Table 1.
Patient and case characteristics for nonspine orthopaedic versus other anesthesia claims*
| Patient and case characteristics | Orthopaedic anesthesia claims (n = 475) Number (%) |
Other claims (n = 1592) Number (%) |
Odds ratio (95% CI) | p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patient characteristics | ||||
| Males (n = 2065) | 243 (51) | 758 (48) | 1.15 (0.94–1.41) | 0.100 |
| Obese (n = 1560) | 161 (46) | 560 (46) | 1.00 (0.79–1.27) | 0.516 |
| ASA physical status 1–2 (n = 2019) | 277 (61) | 689 (44) | 1.99 (1.61–2.46) | < 0.001 |
| Emergency status (n = 2045) | 32 (7) | 216 (14) | 0.45 (0.31–0.67) | < 0.001 |
| Trauma patient (n = 2045) | 69 (15) | 33 (2) | 8.02 (5.22–12.31) | < 0.001 |
| Outpatient (n = 2023) | 216 (47) | 427 (27) | 2.36 (1.90–2.92) | < 0.001 |
| Patient age < 17 years | 10 (2) | 83 (5) | 0.39 (0.20–0.76) | 0.002 |
| Age (years), mean ± SD (n = 2046) | 53 ± 16 | 50 ± 19 | 1.01 (1.00–1.02) | 0.001 |
| Category of care involved in claim | < 0.001 | |||
| Postoperative pain management† | 119 (25) | 117 (7) | 4.21 (3.18–5.58) | |
| Primary anesthetic provided (n = 2062) | < 0.001 | |||
| General anesthesia | 243 (51) | 1207 (76) | 0.33 (0.27–0.41) | |
| Regional anesthesia with or without GA | 218 (46) | 136 (9) | 9.05 (7.04–11.64) | |
| Other anesthesia‡ | 14 (3) | 244 (15) | 0.17 (0.10–0.29) | |
*All claim events occurred in the year 2000 or later; N = 2067 unless noted otherwise; claims with missing data excluded; p values by Fisher’s exact test and chi-square for proportions and t-test (age); †postoperative pain management compared with surgical claims; ‡other anesthesia included 237 claims for monitored anesthesia care and 21 claims in which no anesthesia was provided; CI = confidence interval; ASA = American society of Anesthesiologists; GA = general anesthesia.