Clinical and economic outcomes of thyroid and parathyroid surgery in children.

CONTEXT: Clinical and economic outcomes after thyroidectomy/parathyroidectomy in adults have demonstrated disparities based on patient age and race/ethnicity; there is a paucity of literature on pediatric endocrine outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: The objective was to examine the clinical and demographic predictors of outcomes after pediatric thyroidectomy/parathyroidectomy.

DESIGN: This study is a cross-sectional analysis of Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project-National Inpatient Sample hospital discharge information from 1999-2005. All patients who underwent thyroidectomy/parathyroidectomy were included. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify independent predictors of patient outcomes.

SUBJECTS: Subjects included 1199 patients 17 yr old or younger undergoing thyroidectomy/parathyroidectomy.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome measures included in-hospital patient complications, length of stay (LOS), and inpatient hospital costs.

RESULTS: The majority of patients were female (76%), aged 13-17 yr (71%), and White (69%). Whites were more often in the highest income group (80% vs. 8% for Hispanic and 6% for Black; P < 0.01) and had private/HMO insurance (76% vs. 10% for Hispanic and 5% for Black; P < 0.001) rather than Medicaid (13% vs. 32% for Hispanic and 41% for Black; P < 0.001). Ninety-one percent of procedures were thyroidectomies and 9% parathyroidectomies. Children aged 0-6 yr had higher complication rates (22% vs. 15% for 7-12 yr and 11% for 13-17 yr; P < 0.01), LOS (3.3 d vs. 2.3 for 7-12 yr and 1.8 for 13-17 yr; P < 0.01), and higher costs. Compared with children from higher-income families, those from lower-income families had higher complication rates (11.5 vs. 7.7%; P < 0.05), longer LOS (2.7 vs. 1.7 d; P < 0.01), and higher costs. Children had higher endocrine-specific complication rates than adults after parathyroidectomy (15.2 vs. 6.2%; P < 0.01) and thyroidectomy (9.1 vs. 6.3%; P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Children undergoing thyroidectomy/parathyroidectomy have higher complication rates than adult patients. Outcomes were optimized when surgeries were performed by high-volume surgeons. There appears to be disparity in access to high-volume surgeons for children from low-income families, Blacks, and Hispanics.