An article published in Spine examines the cost of treating axis fractures in the United States.
The study authors examined information from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 2000 to 2010 to identify patients with C2 fractures without neurological injury. There were 31,129 patients involved in the study. Here are five findings from their report:
1. The incidence of C2 fracture hospitalization increased from 2000 to 2010 among all age groups, but the most rapid growth occurred in patients older than 84 years old. Those patients experienced a three-fold increase from 3.18 to 9.77 hospitalizations per 10,000 individuals per year.
2. The rate of surgical intervention increased from 2000 to 2010 from 13.1 percent of the patients to 16.5 percent of the patients.
3. At the same time, patients who received halo vest placement decreased from 25.2 percent to 10.4 percent.
4. Nonoperative patients accrued an average charge of $39,346 in hospitalization in 2000; the same patients reported an average charge of $63,222 in hospitalization in 2010. Hospitalization costs for surgically treated patients increased from 2000 to 2010 from $70,784 to $133,064.
5. Estimated annual inpatient care charges for patients with C2 fractures increased 4.7-fold in the United States from $334 million in 2000 to more than $1.5 million in 2010.