In 2010, blood transfusion most frequent hospital procedure

(HealthDay)—The most frequent procedure performed during hospitalization in 2010 was blood transfusion, which was common among all age groups except for infants, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

Anne Pfuntner, from the AHRQ in Rockville, Md., and colleagues used data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project 2010 Nationwide Inpatient Sample to examine the most common procedures performed during hospital stays in the United States in 2010.

According to the report, of the 39 million U.S. hospital stays in 2010, medical procedures were performed in 63 percent. From 1997 to 2010, the rate of hospitalization for procedures remained relatively constant at approximately 800 per 10,000 population. The most common procedure performed during hospitalizations was blood transfusion (11 percent of hospital stays with a procedure), which was common in all age groups except infants. The most common types of procedures performed during hospitalization were associated with pregnancy and childbirth, or cardiovascular or musculoskeletal conditions. From 1997 to 2010, the rate of hospitalization for cesarean section increased by 41 percent; the rate of hospitalization with diagnostic cardiac catheterization decreased by 23 percent; the rate of hospitalization with knee replacement and spine fusion approximately doubled; and the rate of hospitalization with indwelling catheter increased more than three-fold.

"Blood transfusion was the most common all-listed procedure performed during hospitalizations in 2010 (11 percent of stays with a procedure)," the authors write. "The rate of hospitalizations with blood transfusion has more than doubled since 1997."