Hospital care and medical costs of septic arthritis in Spain: a retrospective multicenter analysis.

Objectives: This study aimed to review the characteristics of patients admitted with septic arthritis in Spanish hospitals and to measure the associated direct medical costs.

Methods: Hospital admission records of patients with septic arthritis as a primary diagnosis registered between 2010 and 2019 were evaluated in a retrospective study. Admission cost in the database is based on the diagnosis-related group-based hospital payment systems, determined by the Spanish Ministry of Health.

Results: Files from 16,438 patients were evaluated; median age was 56 years and 62.8% of patients were males. was the most frequently registered pathogen, and 2.7% of admissions registered an antibiotic-resistant infection. Median hospitalization time was 14 days for adult patients and 8 days for children, with an in-hospital mortality rate of 3.7% for adult patients, and no deaths registered in children. The median length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was 3 days. The mean admission cost was €6,382 per patient, with no significant differences between age groups. Admission costs increased significantly with the length of hospital stay. The total medical cost reached 12.7 million euros per year, considering all patients in the database.

Conclusions: This study provides new data on the medical costs of septic arthritis in Spain, providing a basis for the revision of resource allocation decisions in order to reduce the burden of this condition at the healthcare system level. Further research will be required to quantify the total burden associated with this condition.