Association of tumor location with economic outcomes and air leak complications in thoracic lobectomies: results from a national hospital billing dataset

Purpose: To assess whether tumor location during thoracic lobectomies affects economic outcomes or air leak complications. Patients and methods: Retrospective, observational study using Premier Healthcare Database. The study included patients aged ≥18 years who underwent elective inpatient thoracic lobectomy for lung cancer between 2012 and 2014 (first qualifying=index admission). Three mutually exclusive tumor location groups were formed: upper lobe, middle lobe, and lower lobe. Primary outcomes were index admission’s length of stay (LOS), total hospital costs, and operating room time; in-hospital air leak complications (composite of air leak/pneumothorax) served as an exploratory outcome. Multivariable models were used to examine the association between tumor location and the study outcomes, accounting for covariates and hospital-level clustering. Results: 8,750 thoracic lobectomies were identified: upper lobe (n=5,284), middle lobe (n=512), and lower lobe (n=2,954). Compared with the upper lobe, the middle and lower lobe groups had statistically significant (p<0.05): shorter adjusted LOS (7.0 days upper vs 5.8 days middle, 6.6 days lower), lower adjusted mean total hospital costs ($26,177 upper vs $23,109 middle, $24,557 lower), and lower adjusted odds of air leak complications (odds ratio middle vs upper=0.81, 95% CI=0.74–0.89; odds ratio lower vs upper=0.60, 95% CI=0.46–0.78). Findings were similar but varied in statistical significance when stratified by open and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery approach. Conclusion: Among patients undergoing elective thoracic lobectomy for lung cancer in real-world clinical practice, upper lobe tumors were significantly associated with increased in-hospital resource use and air leak complications as compared with lower or middle lobe tumors.