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Background: Patients with burn injuries cause significant healthcare economic burden, often utilising extra-hospital resources, caregiving, and specialized care.Methods: We present a retrospective cohort analysis of the hospitalized patients in the USA with a primary diagnosis of burn injury. Opioid dependence was identified using ICD-10 CM codes. The 30-day all-cause readmission rate was the main outcome while secondary outcomes were inhospital mortality rate, resource utilization which included hospital length of stay, total hospitalization costs and charges and surgical procedures for burn injury treatment as well as the most important five principal diagnoses for admission and readmission.Results: Out of 22,348 patients included in the study, 597 had opioid dependence. Older patients (43 years, range: 38.6-47.2 years) as well as males (70.8%) were more likely to be opioid dependent. Opioid dependence was associated with higher 30-day readmission rates (aOR: 1.83, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.30-2.57, p-value: <0.01), higher total hospitalization costs (aMD: $14,981, CI: $3820-$26,142, p-value: 0.01), total hospitalization charges (aMD: $47,078, CI: -$5093 to $89,063, p-value: 0.03), and a shorter mean length of stay (aMD: 5.13 days, CI: 2.60-7.66, p-value: <0.01). However, patients with and without opioid dependence had similar in-hospital mortality rates (aOR: 0.27, CI: 0.06-1.28, p-value: 0.10).Conclusion: We are the first to our knowledge to report the association of treatment outcomes and opioid dependence in patients hospitalized at the national level with a burn injury. We show that there were higher 30-day all-cause readmission rates and in-hospital resource utilization among patients with opioid-dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In patients with left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), the association between body mass index (BMI) and driveline infection (DLI) remains controversial. Even though these devices provide some advantages over medical therapy alone when comparing patient outcomes, their effective long-term management presents a unique clinical challenge. Obesity, a condition that raises the risk of postoperative cardiovascular surgical site infections, has increased prevalence in LVAD recipients. A driveline infection can be challenging to manage and result in the need for surgical revisions in as many as 70% of cases and decrease the patient's chance of five-year survival from 70% to 40%. The aim of this study was to explore a correlation between BMI and DLI in the LVAD patient population. A retrospective, single-center study evaluated patients who underwent LVAD implantation between October 2012 and December 2021. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Cox regression method adjusting for age, gender, race, INTERMACS level, and highest education. The mean BMI was 29.2 out of 209 patients included. Categories of BMI were defined as follows: BMI <22.5, BMI 22.5-30.0, BMI 30.0-37.5, and BMI >37.5. Out of 209 patients, 13% had BMI >37.5. Compared to the non-DLI group (77.3%, N = 160), patients in the DLI group (22.7%, N = 47) had a higher BMI and a shorter time to driveline infection. When compared to the control group with BMI 22-30, the group with BMI <22.5 showed a trend toward a shorter time to driveline infection. Malnutrition causes impaired immune status, and an extremely thin subcutaneous tissue is vulnerable to infection. This was not statistically significant when adjusting for the variables mentioned above. However, after correcting for the variables mentioned above, there was a significant correlation between BMI > 37.5 and time to DLI (p=0.045). High BMI may have a negative impact on the pro-inflammatory state and immune function which could cause DLI. As such, addressing excessive body weight in this patient cohort with aggressive nutrition and weight loss strategies may significantly reduce DLI or at least prolong the timing to DLI and thereby improve long-term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]