Complicated breast cancer-related lymphedema: evaluating health care resource utilization and associated costs of management

BACKGROUND: Lymphedema can become a disabling condition necessitating inpatient care. This study aimed to estimate complicated lymphedema incidence after breast cancer surgery and calculate associated hospital resource utilization. METHODS: We identified adult women undergoing lumpectomy and/or mastectomy with axillary lymph node surgery between 2006 and 2012 using 5-state inpatient databases. Patients were grouped according to the development of complicated lymphedema. The primary outcomes were all-cause hospitalizations and health care charges within 2 years of surgery. Multivariate regression models were used to compare outcomes. RESULTS: Of 56,075 women included, 2.3% had at least 1 hospital admission for complicated lymphedema within 2 years of surgery. Despite confounder adjustment, women with complicated lymphedema experienced 5 fold more all-cause (incidence rate ratio -5.02, 95% confidence interval: 4.76 to 5.29) admissions compared with women without lymphedema. This resulted in substantially higher health care charges ($58,088 vs $31,819 per patient, P < .001). Although axillary dissection and certain comorbidities were associated with complicated lymphedema, breast reconstruction appeared unrelated. CONCLUSIONS: Complicated lymphedema develops in a quantifiable number of patients. The health care burden of lymphedema underscored here mandates further investigation into targeted, anticipatory management strategies for breast cancer-related lymphedema. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.