Amy Li1, Tej Deepak Azad2, Anand Veeravagu2, Inderpreet Bhatti2, Chao Long3, John K Ratliff2, Gordon Li4. 1. Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA. Electronic address: amyli88@stanford.edu. 2. Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA. 3. Division of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Stanford Health Care, Stanford, California, USA. 4. Department of Neurosurgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA. Electronic address: gordonli@stanford.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To characterize cranioplasty complications and costs at a population level using a longitudinal national claims database. METHODS: We identified patients undergoing cranioplasty between 2007 and 2014 in the MarketScan national database. We evaluated age, autograft usage, cranioplasty size, and cranioplasty timing stratified by postoperative outcomes. We further analyzed associated costs. A subset analysis of adult patients with emergent indications, including stroke and trauma, was performed. RESULTS: We identified 8275 patients (mean age 44.0 years ± 20.0, 45.2% male), including 13.8% children (<18 years old), 76.0% adults (18-64 years old), and 10.2% elderly adults (≥65 years old). Overall complication rate was 36.6%, mortality rate was 0.5%, and 30-day readmission rate was 12.0%. Elderly patients had the highest complication rate (P < 0.0001). Large cranioplasties (>5 cm) had higher complication rates than small cranioplasties (≤5 cm; P = 0.047). In patients with emergent indications (n = 1282), size did not influence complications, although large cranioplasties showed higher infection risk (P = 0.02). Autograft use did not affect outcomes but was associated with higher complication risk, including infections, in the subset with emergent indications (P < 0.001, P = 0.001). Late (>90 days) cranioplasty timing had higher complication rates in the overall cohort and the subset with emergent indications (P < 0.001, P < 0.001). Index costs of care were mainly driven by hospital payments in both the overall cohort and the cohort with emergent indications. CONCLUSIONS: A high complication rate is associated with cranioplasty in the United States. Older age, large cranioplasties, and delayed cranioplasties increased complication risk overall. Among patients with emergent indications, complications were associated with delayed time to cranioplasty and autograft usage.
OBJECTIVE: To characterize cranioplasty complications and costs at a population level using a longitudinal national claims database. METHODS: We identified patients undergoing cranioplasty between 2007 and 2014 in the MarketScan national database. We evaluated age, autograft usage, cranioplasty size, and cranioplasty timing stratified by postoperative outcomes. We further analyzed associated costs. A subset analysis of adult patients with emergent indications, including stroke and trauma, was performed. RESULTS: We identified 8275 patients (mean age 44.0 years ± 20.0, 45.2% male), including 13.8% children (<18 years old), 76.0% adults (18-64 years old), and 10.2% elderly adults (≥65 years old). Overall complication rate was 36.6%, mortality rate was 0.5%, and 30-day readmission rate was 12.0%. Elderly patients had the highest complication rate (P < 0.0001). Large cranioplasties (>5 cm) had higher complication rates than small cranioplasties (≤5 cm; P = 0.047). In patients with emergent indications (n = 1282), size did not influence complications, although large cranioplasties showed higher infection risk (P = 0.02). Autograft use did not affect outcomes but was associated with higher complication risk, including infections, in the subset with emergent indications (P < 0.001, P = 0.001). Late (>90 days) cranioplasty timing had higher complication rates in the overall cohort and the subset with emergent indications (P < 0.001, P < 0.001). Index costs of care were mainly driven by hospital payments in both the overall cohort and the cohort with emergent indications. CONCLUSIONS: A high complication rate is associated with cranioplasty in the United States. Older age, large cranioplasties, and delayed cranioplasties increased complication risk overall. Among patients with emergent indications, complications were associated with delayed time to cranioplasty and autograft usage.
Authors: Gary B Skolnick; Matthew R Keller; Ethan J Baughman; Dennis C Nguyen; Katelin B Nickel; Sybill D Naidoo; Margaret A Olsen; Kamlesh B Patel Journal: J Craniofac Surg Date: 2021-05-01 Impact factor: 1.046
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Authors: Peter J Hutchinson; Angelos G Kolias; Tamara Tajsic; Amos Adeleye; Abenezer Tirsit Aklilu; Tedy Apriawan; Abdul Hafid Bajamal; Ernest J Barthélemy; B Indira Devi; Dhananjaya Bhat; Diederik Bulters; Randall Chesnut; Giuseppe Citerio; D Jamie Cooper; Marek Czosnyka; Idara Edem; Nasser M F El-Ghandour; Anthony Figaji; Kostas N Fountas; Clare Gallagher; Gregory W J Hawryluk; Corrado Iaccarino; Mathew Joseph; Tariq Khan; Tsegazeab Laeke; Oleg Levchenko; Baiyun Liu; Weiming Liu; Andrew Maas; Geoffrey T Manley; Paul Manson; Anna T Mazzeo; David K Menon; Daniel B Michael; Susanne Muehlschlegel; David O Okonkwo; Kee B Park; Jeffrey V Rosenfeld; Gail Rosseau; Andres M Rubiano; Hamisi K Shabani; Nino Stocchetti; Shelly D Timmons; Ivan Timofeev; Chris Uff; Jamie S Ullman; Alex Valadka; Vicknes Waran; Adam Wells; Mark H Wilson; Franco Servadei Journal: Acta Neurochir (Wien) Date: 2019-05-28 Impact factor: 2.216
Authors: Omar Omar; Thomas Engstrand; Lars Kihlström Burenstam Linder; Jonas Åberg; Furqan A Shah; Anders Palmquist; Ulrik Birgersson; Ibrahim Elgali; Michael Pujari-Palmer; Håkan Engqvist; Peter Thomsen Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2020-10-12 Impact factor: 11.205