Trends in Sacroiliac Joint Fusion Costs and Utilization in the Privately Insured Population.

Study Design: Retrospective Cohort Study.

Objective: Despite innovations in minimally invasive (MI) techniques for sacroiliac joint fusion (SIJF), trends in utilization and associated costs remain unclear. In this study, we assessed these trends and costs in a database of privately insured patients.

Methods: Records of open and MI SIJFs were queried from the 2007-2021 MarketScan Databases with CPT codes. Net payments made by insurance carriers were identified, as were out-of-pocket payments made by patients for each encounter. Regression was used to model utilization, payments, and costs.

Results: 4124 SIJFs were identified, 1626 (39.4%) of which were MI SIJF. SIJF utilization increased by 1176.2% throughout the study period ( < .001). However, open SIJF utilization peaked in 2012. Open SIJF utilization was not significantly associated with time ( = .18). By contrast, the peak utilization for MI procedures occurred in 2021. Spine surgeons' volume of MI SIJF increased by 258% over the study period ( < .001), while nonsurgeon volume of MI SIJF increased by 990.9% ( < .001).

Conclusion: Privately insured patients have increasingly utilized SIJF over the past several years. This is predominantly due to the adoption of MI techniques by spine surgeons and nonsurgeons.