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Table 3 Comparison of clinical and process characteristics for open and closed tibial fractures (n = 358)

From: Economics of open tibial fractures: the pivotal role of length-of-stay and infection

 

Patients

Open (n = 51)

Closed (n = 307)

p

Clinical characteristics

Gender

  

0.079

-Male

33 (64.7%)

158 (51.5%)

 

-Female

18 (35.3%)

149 (48.5%)

 

Age (years)

48 (29 – 60)

49 (37 – 63)

0.242

ASA score

  

0.298

-ASA 1

19 (37.3%)

139 (45.3%)

 

-ASA 2

23 (45.1%)

135 (44.0%)

 

-ASA 3

9 (17.6%)

33 (10.7%)

 

CVRF

26 (59.1%)

172 (58.9%)

0.981

AO/OTA bone segment

  

<0.001***

-41

6 (11.8%)

116 (37.8%)

 

-42

31 (60.8%)

109 (35.5%)

 

-43

14 (27.5%)

82 (26.7%)

 

AO/OTA fracture type

  

0.010**

-A

22 (43.1%)

97 (31.6%)

 

-B

10 (19.6%)

129 (42.0%)

 

-C

19 (37.3%)

81 (26.4%)

 

AO/OTA fracture group

  

0.190

-1

21 (41.2%)

141 (45.9%)

 

-2

12 (23.5%)

42 (13.7%)

 

-3

18 (35.3%)

124 (40.4%)

 

Antibiotic therapy

  

<0.001***

-prophylactic

27 (52.9%)

286 (93.2%)

 

-therapeutic

24 (47.1%)

21 (6.8%)

 

Delayed-staged surgery

17 (33.3%)

27 (8.8%)

<0.001***

Type of definite surgery

  

<0.001***

-intramedullary nail

35 (68.6%)

105 (34.2%)

 

-plate osteosynthesis

14 (27.5%)

130 (42.3%)

 

-screw osteosynthesis

0

66 (21.5%)

 

-external fixator

2 (3.9%)

5 (1.6%)

 

-arthrodesis

0

7 (2.3%)

 

Superficial infection

0

0 (3.9%)

0.276

Deep infection

7 (13.7%)

5 (1.6%)

<0.001***

Nonunion

10 (19.6%)

8 (2.6%)

<0.001***

Other complications

2 (3.9%)

6 (2.0%)

0.379

Debridement

10 (19.6%)

9 (2.9%)

<0.001***

Hardware removal

25 (49.0%)

96 (31.3%)

0.013*

Re-osteosynthesis

8 (15.7%)

6 (2.0%)

<0.001***

Other operations

10 (19.6%)

12 (3.9%)

<0.001***

Mortality

1 (2.0%)

10 (3.3%)

0.619

Process characteristics

LOS to definite surgery (days)

0 (0 – 5)

1 (0 – 3)

0.950

Total length of antibiotic therapy (days)

6 (4 – 11)

1 (1 – 2)

<0.001***

Total LOS (days)

11 (7 – 25)

6 (4 – 13)

<0.001***

Number of operations

2 (1 – 3)

1 (1 – 2)

<0.001***

Number of hospital admissions

1 (1 – 2)

1 (1 – 2)

<0.015*

Number of surgical day care admissions

0

0

0.883

Number of ambulatory consults

7 (5 – 10)

5 (3 – 7)

<0.001***

Healthcare costs

Honoraria

€2,609 (1,484 – 4,013)

€1,494 (1,135 – 2,281)

<0.001***

Materials (implants & screws)

€1,617 (1,070 – 2,501)

€1,002 (467 – 1,397)

<0.001***

Hospitalization

€4,519 (2,876 – 10,271)

€2,465 (1,643 –5,341)

<0.001***

Day care stay

€0 (0 – 177)

€0 (0 – 86)

0.588

Pharmaceuticals

€1,448 (981 – 3294)

€978 (862 – 1,724)

<0.001***

Total healthcare costs

€11,061 (7,135 – 19,883)

€6,632 (4,714 – 10,095)

<0.001***

  1. Categorical variables are presented as numbers and percentages, continuous variables as median with interquartile distributions
  2. *p < 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p < 0.001 (p < 0.05 is considered to be significant)
  3. Abbreviations: CVRF cardiovascular risk factors, LOS length of stay