Repeated cross-sectional analysis using national Medicare data from the Dartmouth Atlas Project.
To describe recent trends and geographic variation in population-based rates of lumbar fusion spine surgery.
Lumbar fusion rates have increased dramatically during the 1980s and even more so in the 1990s. The most rapid increase appeared to follow the approval of a new surgical implant device.
Medicare claims and enrollment data were used to calculate age, sex, and race-adjusted rates of lumbar laminectomy/discectomy and lumbar fusion for fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries over age 65 in each of the 306 US Hospital Referral Regions between 1992 and 2003.
Lumbar fusion rates have increased steadily since 1992 (0.3 per 1000 enrollees in 1992 to 1.1 per 1000 enrollees in 2003). Regional rates of lumbar discectomy, laminectomy, and fusion in 1992–1993 were highly correlated to rates of discectomy, laminectomy (R2 = 0.44), and fusion (R2 = 0.28) in 2002–2003. There was a nearly 8-fold variation in regional rates of lumbar discectomy and laminectomy in 2002 and 2003. In the case of lumbar fusion, there was nearly a 20-fold range in rates among Medicare enrollees in 2002 and 2003. This represents the largest coefficient of variation seen with any surgical procedure. Medicare spending for inpatient back surgery more than doubled over the decade. Spending for lumbar fusion increased more than 500%, from $75 million to $482 million. In 1992, lumbar fusion represented 14% of total spending for back surgery; by 2003, lumbar fusion accounted for 47% of spending.
The rate of specific procedures within a region or “surgical signature” is remarkably stable over time. However, there has been a marked increase in rates of fusion, and a coincident shift and increase in cost. Rates of back surgery were not correlated with the per-capita supply of orthopedic and neurosurgeons.
A repeated cross-sectional analysis using national Medicare data to describe recent trends and geographic variation in population-based rates of lumbar fusion spine surgery.
From the *Department of Orthopaedics, †Department of Community & Family Medicine, ‡Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences, §Department of Medicine, and ∥VA Outcomes Group, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH.
Acknowledgment date: August 27, 2006. First revision date: September 18, 2006. Acceptance date: September 19, 2006.
The manuscript submitted does not contain information about medical device(s)/drug(s).
Federal funds were received in support of this work. No benefits in any form have been or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this manuscript.
Supported by The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (U01-AR45444-01A1) and the Office of Research on Women’s Health, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute of Aging (1-P01-AG19783-01). The Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center in Musculoskeletal Diseases is funded by NIAMS (P60-AR048094-01A1). Dr. Lurie is supported by a Research Career Award from NIAMS (1 K23 AR 048138-01). Dr. Olson is supported by a NRSA Orthopaedic Resident/Researcher program grant from NIAMS (1 T32 AR049710-03).
Address correspondence and reprint requests to James N. Weinstein, DO, MS, Department of Community & Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, DHMC (SPORT), One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03756; E-mail: tamara.s.morgan@dartmouth.edu
