Abstract
Purpose :
Bleb-related infections (BRI) can be severe vision threatening consequences of glaucoma drainage surgery. They are graded using three different stages which represent the degree of ocular involvement. This study assesses demographic variables of a population of inpatients with bleb related infections including hospital stay information and reported comorbidities.
Methods :
A retrospective database study was conducted using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) from 2003-2014. ICD-9 CM codes were used to identify inpatients with bleb related infections (379.6-379.63). Descriptive statistics were performed using frequency analysis. All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS v25. Data on stage of diagnosis were only reported if a stage was specified (ICD-9CM codes 379.61-379.63).
Results :
619 patients with bleb-related infections were identified. Of these patients, a majority were men (54.5%), White (42.2%), older than 21 (94.2%), and used government insurance (63.9%). The average length of inpatient stay was 5.65 days and average cost of the inpatient stay was $45,245.66. Patients most commonly had stage 3 disease (52.3%). The most common discharge quarter was July-September (31.2%) and a majority of patients were in the bottom quartile of median household income based on zip code (34.1%). Patients were most commonly treated in urban teaching hospitals (83.5%). The most common hospital census regions were the Northeast (30.1%) and the South (28.4%). The most common comorbidities included diabetes with or without chronic complications (32.0%), chronic pulmonary disease (17.6%), fluid and electrolyte disorders (22.0%), deficiency anemias (15.7%), chronic kidney disease (10.4%), tobacco use (21.4%), and frailty (8.8%). Reported ocular comorbidities included hypopyon (7.9%), monocular vision loss (4.0%), and eye pain (3.1%).
Conclusions :
Of the 619 patients with bleb-related infections identified, a majority were men, used government insurance, and commonly had diagnoses of diabetes, chronic pulmonary disease, deficiency anemias, tobacco use, and chronic kidney disease. Ocular comorbidities included hypopyon, monocular vision loss, and eye pain.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.