Inter-center variations in length of hospitalization for infants with congenital jejunal or ileal atresia.

OBJECTIVE

To quantify inter-center variation (ICV) in length of stay (LOS) among surviving infants with jejunal (JA) or ileal atresia (IA).

STUDY

DESIGN

Children's Hospitals Neonatal Consortium's database was used to identify infants with JA or IA. After excluding infants with abdominal wall defects, survivors' hospital LOS was modeled as a function of center using generalized linear models with log link for gamma distribution.

RESULTS

There were 1134 and 808 infants with JA and IA, respectively. LOS had significant ICV in unadjusted (JA: 5.4 [IQR 3.7,9.9] weeks; IA: 4.3 [IQR 2.4,11.4] weeks) and multivariable analyses (JA: 4+ fold difference (6.5-31.5 week); p < 0.001 IA: 8+ fold difference (1.7-14.6 weeks); p < 0.001) with modifiable risk factors including cholestasis, ostomy creation, blood stream infection, and residual bowel length <55 cm.

CONCLUSION

Risk-adjusted ICV in LOS was observed in infants with JA and IA, which exposes opportunities for improvements in outcomes for infants with intestinal atresia.