Outcomes of Vestibular Schwannoma Surgery among the Elderly: Analysis of the National Inpatient Sample

Objective. To compare comorbidities and in-hospital complications between elderly and nonelderly patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery. To examine average length of stay (LOS) and hospital charges among elderly patients. Study Design. Population-based inpatient registry analysis. Setting. Academic medical center. Subjects and Methods. Retrospective analysis of the National Inpatient Sample for patients undergoing VS surgery from 2002 to 2010: 4137 patients met inclusion criteria, with 519 (12.5%) in the elderly cohort (65 years). Outcomes of elderly and nonelderly (<65 years) patient cohorts were compared. Results. Compared with the nonelderly cohort, the elderly cohort had more comorbidities, including diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and pulmonary disease (all P < .001). Elderly patients had longer LOS (6.5 vs 5.4 days; P = .001) but did not incur significantly greater hospital charges. Rates of cerebrospinal fluid leak, meningitis, and facial nerve injury did not vary significantly between groups. The elderly cohort experienced higher rates of in-hospital complications, including acute cardiac events, iatrogenic cerebrovascular infarction/hemorrhage, postoperative bleeding (hemorrhage/hematoma), and in-hospital mortality (all P < .05). In binary logistic regression, correcting for patient demographics and presence of comorbidities, elderly status was associated with 1.848 (95% confidence interval, 1.167-2.927; P = .009) greater odds of medical complications and 13.188 (95% confidence interval, 1.829-95.113; P = .011) greater odds of in-hospital mortality. Conclusion. Elderly patients undergoing VS surgery have more comorbidities, in-hospital complications, and longer LOS than nonelderly patients. The elderly cohort had a greater rate of in-hospital mortality, though rare. Interestingly, elderly patients did not have a higher rate of many known complications associated with VS surgery and did not incur more hospital charges.