Differences in Regional Anesthesia Utilization by Hospital Region in the United States

Abstract

BackgroundRegional anesthesia (RA) has demonstrated distinct advantages over general anesthesia, including decreased infection risk, lower rates of complications, and improved patient satisfaction. As such, the rate of RA utilization has been increasing, particularly among outpatient orthopedic surgeries like total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty. However, no studies have examined utilization rates as a function of hospital region. MethodsA national hospital database (Hospital Corporation of American, HCA) was queried for patients 18 years or older that received selected surgical procedure codes between January 2016 and June 2021. The included CPT codes were for total knee arthroplasty (TKA), total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), carpal tunnel release, total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH), open reduction and internal xation (ORIF) of the ankle, and arteriovenous (AV) stula creation. Regional