135 Background: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States with a rising incidence, especially in young adults. Care for patients with colorectal cancer is associated with significant health care costs and expenditures. We analyzed trends in admissions and outcomes related to hospitalizations in patients with colorectal cancer. Methods: We retrospectively interrogated the National Inpatient Sample for admissions in patients with colorectal cancer from 2007 – 2017. Records were stratified based upon the anatomical site and were analyzed for various inpatient outcomes. SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc.) was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 1,962,705 admissions were identified. About 50.2% patients were males, 64.4% were white and median age was 67.7 (53.8-81.6). Majority (47.8%) of the admissions that were coded for anatomical location of malignancy were for ascending colon cancer. 60.7% of the admissions were non-elective and Medicare was the primary payer for 58.6% of admissions. Most patients admitted for colon cancer belonged to the lower income quartile (28.3%) and were concentrated in large (58.9%), urban teaching hospitals (53.4%) in Southern US (38.8%). Hypertension (53.6%) and diabetes mellitus (18.6%) were the most common co-morbidities (p < 0.0001). Average in-hospital mortality was 4.9% and was lower in patients with ascending colon cancer (2.9, p < 0.001). Median length of stay was 5 days, but was higher in patients with transverse colon cancer (9 days, p < 0.0001). Median cost of hospitalization was found to be $12,295 and was significantly higher for patients with descending colon malignancy ($16,369, p < 0.0001). The number of annual hospitalizations stayed steady overall; the number of annual hospitalizations increased by 98.6% for rectosigmoid cancer. Conclusions: Despite highest number of hospitalizations, patients with ascending colon cancer had lowest in-hospital mortality. Cost of hospitalization and median length of stay were highest for patients with descending colon and transverse colon respectively. Number of annual hospitalizations has significantly increased for rectosigmoid cancer. Our findings may help inform physicians and healthcare administrators to devise appropriate strategies to efficiently channelize healthcare resources in order to decrease the overall economic burden associated with hospitalizations in patients with colorectal cancer.
A Report of a Rare Case of Ascending Colon Cancer Complicated by Abnormal Fixation of the Sigmoid and Descending Colon