Trends and Impact of Treatment Modalities (Surgery and Radiation Therapy) on Health Care Utilization in Patients With Glomus Jugulare Tumors (GJTs): An Inverse Probability of Treatment Weight Analysis

Objectives: The trend of practice pattern and impact on health care utilization for surgery and radiation therapy (RT) in patients with glomus jugulare tumors (GJTs) is not well defined. Methods: The IBM (Armonk, NY) MarketScan database was queried using the ICD-9/10 and CPT 4th edition, 2000–2020. We included patients ≥18 years of age who underwent either surgery or RT with at-least 1-year follow-up. We compared the health care utilization at 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year follow up using the inverse probability of treatment weight technique. Results: A cohort of 333 patients was identified. Of these, 72.7% (n = 242) underwent RT and 27.3% (n = 91) underwent surgery. RT use increased from 2002–2004 (50%) to 2017–2019 (91%). Patients in the surgery cohort were younger (median age 49 vs. 56 years, P < 0.0001) and had a higher 3+ comorbidity index (34% vs. 30%, P = 0.43) compared with patients in the RT cohort. Patients who underwent surgery had higher complications at index hospitalization (22% vs. 6%, P < 0.0001) and at 30 days (14% vs. 5%, P = 0.0042). No difference in combined index and 6- or 12-month payments were noted (6-months: surgery, $66m108, RT: $43m509, P = 0.1034; 12-months: surgery, $73,259, RT: $51,576, P = 0.1817). Only 4% of patients who had initial RT underwent RT and none underwent surgery at 12 months, whereas 6% of patients who had initial surgery underwent RT and 2% underwent surgery at 12 months. Conclusions: RT plays an increasingly important role in the treatment for patients with GJTs, with fewer complications and a comparable health care utilization at 1 year.