Complications and Cost of Syndactyly Reconstruction in the United States: Analysis of the Pediatric Health Information System

Abstract

Background: Syndactyly is one of the most common congenital differences of the upper extremity and offers an exceptional opportunity to evaluate value-based care in pediatric orthopedic surgery. We designed a study to characterize complications and cost associated to syndactyly surgery among US pediatric hospitals. Methods: A total of 2047 patients were identified for syndactyly surgery at 38 pediatric hospitals from 2009 to 2012 using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database. We examined costs as well as complication rates across hospitals stratified by patient and hospital variables. Results: The postoperative complication rate was 1.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.3%-2.5%). Postoperative infection rate was 1.6% and surgical complication rate was 0.3%. Median adjusted standardized cost was $4112.5 (interquartile range: $2979-$6049). Patients with more than 1 diagnosis had 19 times higher risk of complications and were associated with 13% more hospital cost than those with syndactyly as single diagnosis (P < .001). Finally, there was a wide variation in cost across hospitals; 8 (21%) yielded confidence limits above the benchmarked value. Conclusions: In the United States, it is important to recognize variations in practice of syndactyly surgery in hopes of developing quality improvement strategies in pediatric orthopedic surgery.