Incidence and Economic Burden of Retinal Tears in the United States

Purpose To characterize retinal tears (RTs) and calculate the economic burden of RTs that present to the emergency department (ED) in the US. Methods We used a large national ED database to retrospectively analyze RTs that presented to the ED from 2006 to 2019. Using extrapolation methods, national estimates of RT incidence, demographics, comorbidities, disposition, inpatient (IP) costs, and ED costs were calculated. Results During the time period between 2006 and 2019, 15,841 patients presented to the ED with RT as the primary diagnosis. RT incidence was stable at 8.2 per million US population (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 5.3 - 21.0) in this time period. Most patients were males, Caucasian, paid with private insurance, and admitted to EDs in the Northeast. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (19%), a history of cataracts (15%), and diabetes (7.2%). During this time period, RTs costs added up to more than $79 million and $33 million in the ED and IP settings, respectively. Mean per-patient ED and IP costs increased by 145% (p=0.0008) and 86% (p=0.0047), respectively. Conclusion Despite the stable incidence of RTs, RTs place a significant economic burden to the healthcare system, which increases yearly. We recommend physicians and policy makers to work together to pass laws that could prevent the increasing healthcare costs.