The following is a summary of “Impact of inter-hospital transfer on outcomes of urgent cholecystectomy,” published in the January 2023 issue of Surgery by Sakowitz, et al.

In order to describe the effects of inter-hospital transfer status on outcomes following nonelective cholecystectomy for cholecystitis, this study employed a nationwide cohort.

The National Inpatient Sample from 2016 to 2019 was used to identify non-elective cholecystectomies. We evaluated the outcomes of interest using multivariable models that controlled for patient and hospital factors.

About 5.3% of the predicted 530,696 patients underwent a transfer. Comparatively speaking, patients that were transferred were older, more frequently male, and more likely to have an income in the 0th to 25th percentile. Infectious complications (AOR 1.31, 95% CI 1.06-1.60) and non-home discharge (AOR 1.59, 95% CI 1.45-1.74) were related with higher chances of transfer after adjustment, but death was not. Transfer was associated with a hospital’s cost decreasing by $600 (95% CI -$880-330).

Greater postoperative infection but not mortality are related to transfer status. It is necessary to put greater effort into identifying transfer drivers and improving patient outcomes since discrepancies may affect transfer choices.

Reference: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(22)00582-7/fulltext