087 Characterizing the Priapism Superuser: A Longitudinal, Population-based Study

Abstract

Priapism is a medical emergency requiring prompt intervention and utilizes significant healthcare resources. The estimated cost of emergency visits and hospital admission for priapism is $1,778 and $41,909, respectively. To our knowledge, no studies have characterized the patient factors associated with recurrent episodes of priapism on a population level. The purpose of this study is to identify patient factors associated with recurrent hospital visits for priapism. The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases and State Emergency Department Databases for California from 2007-2011 were linked and utilized. Patients were identified as having a diagnosis of priapism by ICD-9 diagnosis code (607.3). They were tracked longitudinally for subsequent encounters for priapism. Patients with >3 hospital encounters for priapism were compared to those with ≤3 hospital encounters in regards to patient and treatment characteristics. 2,843 patients presented for 4,344 hospital (emergency room or inpatient) encounters with a diagnosis of priapism in California between 2007-2011. Of these patients, 2,256 (79.35%) had a single encounter for priapism, while 5.42% had more than three priapism hospital visits (Figure 1). On multivariate analysis, predictive factors for recurrent priapism visits included African American race, diagnosis of sickle cell disease, diagnosis of mental health disorder, and diagnosis of substance abuse disorder. Patients with recurrent priapism are more likely to be discharged from the emergency department (OR 0.19, p<0.005) and are less likely to undergo a therapeutic priapism procedure, such as irrigation or shunt (OR 0.712, p<0.005).