Inpatient economic burden of postoperative ileus associated with abdominal surgery in the United States

A study was conducted to estimate the economic burden of postoperative ileus (POI) to the U.S. hospital system. Using national data projected from a large, inpatient, service-level, comparative database and applying hospitalization costs, we determined direct inpatient costs attributable to POI. Our results indicated that hospitalization for coded POI, according to the International Classification of Diseases, ninth revision (ICD-9), was substantially more costly ($18,877 vs. $9,460) and longer (11.5 vs. 5.5 days) than hospitalization for non-coded POI. Total annual costs attributed to managing POI were $1.46 billion, a situation thus warranting increased attention.