928 MEP123 – Cost analysis of orthopaedic injuries sustained in USA rugby-7s geographic union qualifying tournaments

AbstractBackground USA Rugby-sanctioned 8 Geographic Territorial Union qualifying rugby-7s tournaments series across the continental U. S. feeding into the National Championships. This event series increases the involvement and exposure of play with the Olympic format of Rugby-7s. Governance should be made aware of the costs and prepare medical staffing appropriately to be prepared for such events. Objective Investigate the medical diagnosis and procedural coding cost of orthopedic procedures in U. S. rugby-7s. Design Prospective descriptive cohort. Setting USA Rugby rugby-7s geographic union tournament series (79 tournament days, 2010–2015). Participants Tournament players (n=1084; female=23%; male=77%) sustained acute musculoskeletal injuries during matches in the RISERugby Injury Registry. Interventions Injury diagnosis and medical billing coding for orthopedic diagnosis, and the financial cost of tournament-treatment interventions. Main Outcome Measurements International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) for orthopedic interventions accepted by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery. Financial cost (US=dollars) was calculated after the initial musculoskeletal injury encounter and subsequent clinical evaluations and follow-ups. Results The total estimated medical costs of orthopedic procedures to injuries over 5 years in a regional rugby-7s series were 64, 812. 31 (men = 49, 810. 96; women = 15, 001. 35). Total operating room costs were calculated to be 46, 334. 96 over the series. Orthopedic procedures involving the knee had the highest net cost at 19, 002. 46, followed by shoulder injuries (14, 958. 30), Achilles injuries (5, 329), and hand injuries (2, 085. 30). Among surgical interventions, anterior cruciate ligament injuries had a net cost of 4, 654. 00 per player. The total cost of fractures was 8, 651. 10 in absolute costs withholding standard imaging and inpatient costs. Conclusions Musculoskeletal injuries with Orthopaedic interventions were common in our US Rugby-7s cohort, with men being treated more frequently than women players. Injuries to the knee and shoulder had the highest player expenses with fractures and ligament tears being the most frequent.