Abstract
Background
Cholecystectomy remains the standard management for acute cholecystitis. Given that rates of nonoperative management have increased, we hypothesize the existence of significant hospital-level variability in operative rates. Thus, we characterized patients who were managed nonoperatively at normal and lower operative hospitals (>90th percentile).
Methods
All adult admissions for acute cholecystitis were queried using the 2016–2019 Nationwide Readmissions Database. Centers were ranked by nonoperative rate using multi-level, mixed effects modeling. Hospitals in the top decile of nonoperative rate (>9.4%) were classified as Low Operative Hospitals (LOH; others:nLOH). Separate regression models were created to determine factors associated with nonoperative management at LOH and nLOH.
Results
Of an estimated 418,545 patients, 9.9% were managed at 880 LOH. Multilevel modeling demonstrated that 20.6% of the variability was due to hospital factors alone. After adjustment, older age (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 1.02/year, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.01–1.02) and public insurance (Medicare AOR 1.31, CI 1.21–1.43 and Medicaid AOR 1.43, CI 1.31–1.57; reference: Private Insurance) were associated with nonoperative management at LOH. These were similar at nLOH. At LOH, SNH status (AOR 1.17, CI 1.07–1.28) and small institution size (AOR 1.20, CI 1.09–1.34) were associated with increased odds of nonoperative management.
Conclusion
We noted a significant variability in the interhospital variation of the nonoperative management of acute cholecystitis. Nevertheless, comparable clinical and socioeconomic factors contribute to nonoperative management at both LOH and non-LOH. Directed strategies to address persistent non-clinical disparities are necessary to minimize deviation from standard protocol and ensure equitable care.
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)