Table 2.

Unadjusted comparison of total, pharmacy and radiologic imaging charges between patients undergoing primary video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and primary chest tube placement.^*

	Video-assisted thorascopic surgery (N=50)	Chest tube (N=714)	P-value**
Total hospital charges ($)
All ages combined	32,136 (24,002–51,260)	36,618 (24,921–62,576)	0.401
Age 1 to 5 years	29,450 (22,076–34,457)	40,564 (25,952–77,214)	0.047
Age >5 to 13 years	48,473 (27,986–106,907)	35,610 (23,575–60,231)	0.105
Age >13 to 18 years	32,276 (24,002–47,450)	34,666 (25,108–58,568)	0.523
Pharmacy charges ($)
All ages combined	4,385 (2,940–9,084)	5,978 (3,184–11,636)	0.123
Age 1 to 5 years	3,180 (2,305–5,332)	6,050 (2,854–12,220)	0.021
Age >5 to 13 years	5,577(3,747–16,088)	5,442 (3,070–9,524)	0.380
Age >13 to 18 years	5,859 (2,965–9,084)	6,220 (3,873–12,008)	0.306
Radiologic imaging charges ($)
All ages combined	1,779 (1,036–3,478)	2,939 (1,781–4,981)	<0.001
Age 1 to 5 years	1,391 (909–2,362)	3,082 (1,988–5,427)	<0.001
Age >5 to 13 years	4,587 (701–5,798)	2,804 (1,661–4,863)	0.843
Age >13 to 18 years	2,066 (1,193–2,642)	2,906 (1,709–4,745)	0.014

^*Values listed as median (interquartile range)

^**Comparisons using the Wilcoxon Rank Sum test