Does perioperative respiratory event increase length of hospital stay and hospital cost in pediatric ambulatory surgery?

Abstract

ObjectiveWe examined the consequences of perioperative respiratory event (PRE) in terms of hospitalization and hospital cost in children who underwent ambulatory surgery.MethodsThis subgroup analysis of a prospective cohort study (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02036021) was conducted in children aged between 1 month and 14 years who underwent ambulatory surgery between November 2012 and December 2013. Exposure was the presence of PRE either intraoperatively or in the postanesthetic care unit or both. The primary outcome was length of stay after surgery. The secondary outcome was excess hospital cost excluding surgical cost. Financial information was also compared between PRE and non-PRE. Directed acyclic graphs were used to select the covariates to be included in the multivariate regression models. The predictors of length of stay and excess hospital cost between PRE and non-PRE children are presented as adjusted odds ratio (OR) and cost ratio (CR), respectively with 95% confidence interval (CI).ResultsSixty-three PRE and 249 non-PRE patients were recruited. In the univariate analysis, PRE was associated with length of stay (p = 0.004), postoperative oxygen requirement (p ConclusionPRE with unplanned admission was significantly associated with prolonged length of stay whereas PRE regardless of unplanned admission increased hospital cost by 35% in pediatric ambulatory surgery.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov registration number NCT02036021.