Background and Aims
The 30‐day hospital readmission rate in cirrhotic patients has been demonstrated to be up to 40% in international studies, but is not well studied in Australia. The aim of the current study was to report on the rate and cause of 30‐day hospital readmission from a single liver transplant referral centre, including a cost analysis of readmissions.
Methods
This was a retrospective study of consecutive cirrhotic patients admitted to a liver transplant centre in Victoria, Australia, between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019. Cases were identified through International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, 10 coding for cirrhosis and its complications. Baseline demographic data, liver‐related complications and unrelated extra‐hepatic comorbidities, laboratory values and prognostic scores were collected from the electronic medical record.
Results
One hundred seventy‐nine (63% men; median age at index admission, 59 years) patients who were admitted 427 times during the study period were included in the final analysis. The 30‐day hospital readmission rate was 46%, with the majority of readmissions attributable to fluid overload (29%), miscellaneous reasons (27%) and infection (20%). One fifth of readmissions were considered preventable. History of variceal haemorrhage was found to be an independent predictor of 30‐day hospital readmission. The annual cost of readmission is over AU$2.7 million and the median cost of hospital readmission was about AU$9000.
Conclusions
The 30‐day hospital readmission rate of 46% is higher than previously reported and almost half of cases were caused by either fluid overload or infection.