• Debanjan Haldar, Gregory Glauser, Eric Winter, Ryan Dimentberg, Stephen Goodrich, Kaitlyn Shultz, GradyMichael SeanMSDepartment of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA., Scott D McClintock, and Neil R Malhotra.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2020 May 1; 137: e447-e453.

BackgroundThe relationship between race and neurosurgical outcomes is poorly characterized despite its importance. The influence of race on short-term patient outcomes in a pituitary tumor surgery population was assessed.MethodsCoarsened exact matching was used to retrospectively analyze 567 consecutive pituitary tumor cases from a 6-year period (June 7, 2013, to April 29, 2019) at a single, multihospital academic medical center. Outcomes studied included 30-day readmission, mortality, and reoperation.ResultsThere were 92 exact-matched cases suitable for analysis. There was a significant difference in 30-day emergency department visits between the 2 races (black/African American vs. white odds ratio = 4.5, 95% confidence interval = 1.072-30.559, P = 0.0386). There was no observed mortality over the 30-day postoperative period. There was no significant difference in 30-day readmission between the 2 race cohorts (P = 0.3877), in return to surgery after index admission within 30 days (P = 1.000), or in return to surgery within 30 days (P = 0.3750).ConclusionsThis study suggests that the effect of race on outcomes is partly mitigated for individuals who can attain access, and when socioeconomic factors and comorbidities are controlled for. The noted significant difference in emergency department visits could be indicative of confounding variables that were not well controlled for and requires further exploration.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

23 keywords...

hide…