Clinical outcomes and healthcare costs of inpatients with tetanus in Korea, 2011–2019

Background: Tetanus is a rare, vaccine-preventable but extremely serious disease. We investigated the recent trend of the clinical outcomes and medical costs for inpatients with tetanus in South Korea over 10 years. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review to determine the clinical factors and medical costs associated with tetanus at two national university hospitals in South Korea between January 2011 and October 2019. Results: Forty-nine patients were admitted for tetanus (mean age, 67.0 years [range, 53.0–80.0 years]; 32 women [57.1%]). All the patients had generalized tetanus, and 5 (10.2%) died during hospitalization. The median duration from symptom onset to hospital admission was 4 days. Trismus (85.7%) was the most common symptom, and the median hospital stay was 39 days. Thirty-two patients (65.3%) required mechanical ventilation, and 20 (40.8%) developed aspiration pneumonia. The median total healthcare cost per patient was US $18,011. After discharge, 35 patients (71.4%) recovered sufficiently to walk without disability. Conclusions: Tetanus requires long hospital stays and high medical expenditures in South Korea; however, the vaccination completion rate is low. Medical staff should therefore promote medical advice and policies on the management of tetanus to the general South Korean population.