Objectives—This report presents national estimates of hospital inpatient care in the United States during 2006 and selected trend data. Numbers and rates of discharges, diagnoses, and procedures are shown by age and sex. Average lengths of stay are presented for all discharges and for selected diagnostic categories by age and by sex. Methods—The estimates are based on data collected through the 2006 National Hospital Discharge Survey, an annual national probability sample survey of discharges from nonfederal, general, and short-stay hospitals. In this report, sample data are weighted to produce annual estimates of inpatient care, excluding newborns. Diagnoses and procedures presented are coded using the