national trends in the use of inpatient hospitalization for combined abdominoplasty and breast surgery

background combined procedures involving elective breast surgery at the time of abdominoplasty are frequently performed procedures in aesthetic plastic surgery. while found to be safe outpatient procedures, many surgeons elect to perform combined abdominoplasty/breast surgery as inpatient surgery. this study was performed to explore the practice of performing the combined procedure as an inpatient in the united states. methods the nationwide inpatient sample database was evaluated using icd-9cm procedural codes to identify hospitalizations where patients underwent abdominoplasty combined with breast surgery. we trended the frequency of this combined procedure, and evaluated the rate of acute post-operative complications, length of inpatient hospitalization, and total hospital charges. results between 2004 and 2011, 29,235 combined abdominoplasty/breast procedures were performed as inpatient in united states. the rate of major post-operative complications in the acute hospitalization period was 1.12% and included cva (0.02%), respiratory failure (0.6%), pneumonia (0.3%), vte (0.1%), and myocardial infarction (0.1%). hospitalization averaged 1.8 days and resulted in $31,177 of hospital charges. the demographics of the combined procedure transitioned as i) frequency of inpatient surgeries decreased, ii) percent of patients >50 yr increased, and iii) hospital charges increased from 2004 to 2011. conclusion a significant number of surgeons are performing combined abdominoplasty and elective breast surgery as inpatient procedures in united states. the combined surgery is safe but is associated with small risk of major post-operative complications. a short inpatient hospitalization may be beneficial for high-risk patients interested in combined procedures, but must be analyzed against the rising costs of inpatient surgery.