National burden of achondroplasia: an analysis of the National Inpatient and Nationwide Ambulatory Surgery Samples

Background: To estimate the cost of US hospital admissions and outpatient surgeries associated with achondroplasia. Materials & methods: Using 2017 data from nationally representative databases, this study identifies hospital admissions and outpatient encounters with an achondroplasia diagnosis. Descriptive measures are reported. Results: There were 1985 achondroplasia admissions nationwide. The most frequent admissions were neonatal care (33.7%) in children and musculoskeletal (22.7%) in adults. Average hospital length of stay was 6.8 days, 2.2 days longer than the US mean. Total mean inpatient costs were US$19,959, $7789 greater than the US mean. In the outpatient setting, children 5-14 years accounted for 56.9% of procedures. Conclusion: Achondroplasia is a serious condition with a wide range of lifelong complications frequently requiring hospitalization and surgical intervention.