A national inpatient cost estimate of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG)-associated aspiration pneumonia

Objective: To present national estimates of the prevalence and costs of inp atient admissions for aspiration pneumonia (AP) associated with percutaneou s endoscopic gastrostomies (PEGs) inserted before or during an admission, Study Design: Retrospective analysis using medical claims, Patients and Methods: National estimates of the prevalence of inpatient adm issions associated with AP and mortality rates were developed, using data f rom the Nationwide Inpatient Sample of the Hospital Cost and Utilization Pr oject: (HCUP-3) Database, The MEDSTAT Group's MarketScan(R) Private Pay Fee -for-Service (FFS) and Medicare FFS databases were used to calculate the pe rcentage of admissions for AP that were preceded by a PEG or that entailed a PEG placement, Associated statistics, such as average length of stay and mean payments for these admissions, also were estimated, Results: Approximately 300,000 inpatient admissions for AP took place in th e United States in 1995, of which roughly 70,000 (23.9%) resulted in death, Approximately 10% of all AP admissions occurred after or entailed a PEG pl acement, After adjusting for differences in patients' age, gender, and heal th status, the total mean payments were estimated to be $26,618 per patient , This per-patient estimate translates into a national estimate of the cost of PEG-associated AB of approximately $808.2 million, Conclusion: The cost of PEG-associated AB is relatively high, as estimated in this study, The high inpatient mortality rates of AP imply that future e fforts should be directed toward preventing AP.