Cost-effectiveness analysis of surgical versus non-surgical management of acute Achilles tendon ruptures.

PURPOSE: An Achilles tendon rupture is a common injury that typically affects people in the middle of their working lives. The injury has a negative impact in terms of both morbidity for the individual and the risk of substantial sick leave. The aim of this study was to investigate the cost-effectiveness of surgical compared with non-surgical management in patients with an acute Achilles tendon rupture. METHODS: One hundred patients (86 men, 14 women; mean age, 40 years) with an acute Achilles tendon rupture were randomised (1:1) to either surgical treatment or non-surgical treatment, both with an accelerated rehabilitation protocol (surgical n = 49, non-surgical n = 51). One of the surgical patients was excluded due to a partial re-rupture and five surgical patients were lost to the 1-year economic follow-up. One patient was excluded due to incorrect inclusion and one was lost to the 1-year follow-up in the non-surgical group. The cost was divided into direct and indirect costs. The direct cost is the actual cost of health care, whereas the indirect cost is the production loss related to the impact of the patient's injury in terms of lost ability to work. The health benefits were assessed using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Sampling uncertainty was assessed by means of non-parametric boot-strapping. RESULTS: Pre-injury, the groups were comparable in terms of demographic data and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The mean cost of surgical management was €7332 compared with €6008 for non-surgical management (p = 0.024). The mean number of QALYs during the 1-year time period was 0.89 and 0.86 in the surgical and non-surgical groups respectively. The (incremental) cost-effectiveness ratio was €45,855. Based on bootstrapping, the cost-effectiveness acceptability curve shows that the surgical treatment is 57% likely to be cost-effective at a threshold value of €50,000 per QALY. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical treatment was more expensive compared with non-surgical management. The cost-effectiveness results give a weak support (57% likelihood) for the surgical treatment to be cost-effective at a willingness to pay per QALY threshold of €50,000. This is support for surgical treatment; however, additionally cost-effectiveness studies alongside RCTs are important to clarify which treatment option is preferred from a cost-effectiveness perspective. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: I.

Conservative, open or percutaneous repair for acute rupture of the Achilles tendon.

PURPOSE: To review the complications and recovery of patients with Achilles tendon rupture managed by percutaneous repair, open repair, and non-operative means in a tertiary referral centre between 2001 and 2003. METHODS: The operating theatre register and logbooks of the Consultants were used to identify surgically managed patients, while plaster room records were used for conservatively managed patients. We collated demographic and management details. RESULTS: The number of plaster changes (p < 0.001), median length of time in cast (p < 0.001), and number of outpatient visits (p < 0.05) was greater in conservatively managed patients. We performed no formal statistical analysis given the small numbers. Conservative management was the least expensive and open surgery the most costly modality of management. Percutaneous surgery was approximately a third of the cost of open surgery when performed under local anaesthetic. CONCLUSION: In our setting, percutaneous repair and conservative management are viable alternatives to open surgery, which carries higher complications rates and was the most costly of the three. Individual patients will have different needs due to their age, occupation, or level of sporting activity.

Cost-minimization Analysis of the Management of Acute Achilles Tendon Rupture.

BACKGROUND: Outcomes of nonsurgical management of acute Achilles tendon rupture have been demonstrated to be noninferior to those of surgical management. We performed a cost-minimization analysis of surgical and nonsurgical management of acute Achilles tendon rupture. METHODS: We used a claims database to identify patients who underwent surgical (n = 1,979) and nonsurgical (n = 3,065) management of acute Achilles tendon rupture and compared overall costs of treatment (surgical procedure, follow-up care, physical therapy, and management of complications). Complication rates were also calculated. Patients were followed for 1 year after injury. RESULTS: Average treatment costs in the year after initial diagnosis were higher for patients who underwent initial surgical treatment than for patients who underwent nonsurgical treatment ($4,292 for surgical treatment versus $2,432 for nonsurgical treatment; P < 0.001). However, surgical treatment required fewer office visits (4.52 versus 10.98; P < 0.001) and less spending on physical therapy ($595 versus $928; P < 0.001). Rates of rerupture requiring subsequent treatment (2.1% versus 2.4%; P = 0.34) and additional costs ($2,950 versus $2,515; P = 0.34) were not significantly different regardless whether initial treatment was surgical or nonsurgical. In both cohorts, management of complications contributed to approximately 5% of the total cost. CONCLUSION: From the payer's perspective, the overall costs of nonsurgical management of acute Achilles tendon rupture were significantly lower than the overall costs of surgical management. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III, Economic Decision Analysis.

[Percutaneus Suture of Achilles Tendon Rupture--Operation for Beginners?]. / Perkutane Achillessehnennaht--eine sich lohnende Anfängeraufgabe?

BACKGROUND: Acute rupture of the Achilles tendon is the most common tendon injury, with an incidence of 30/100,000 population. With the Dresden instruments, operative tendon suture can be standardised and is safe, quick and minimally invasive. With post-operative functional therapy in a walking boot, very good clinical results can be achieved. QUESTION: Is this operation suitable as an educational procedure and is its performance still economic? MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2013, 212 patients with acute rupture of the Achilles tendon were operated using the Dresden instruments. There were 167 males and 45 females, with an average age of 46 years. 99 operations were performed by trainees, 46 by attending surgical staff, and 57 by a senior surgeon. RESULTS: With the trainees, the mean duration of the operation was 29:53 minutes, and with the attending staff 29:10 minutes (n. s., p > 0.1). The rate of complications (re-rupture, infection, and sural nerve damage) was 5/99 (5 %) for the trainees, 4/46 (8.7 %) for the attending staff, and 3/57 (5.3 %) for the senior surgeon. A total cost analysis yielded a total operative cost of 445.76 € for outpatient surgery. With a billed sum of 490.11 €, net income of 44.35 € per case is generated. In patients with reasonable indications for 2-day short inpatient treatment, total treatment cost was 3232.70 €. CONCLUSION: Percutaneous suture of the Achilles tendon with the Dresden instruments is a standardised and cost-effective surgical procedure. It is suitable as a "beginner's" procedure that can be performed quickly, safely, and cost-effectively.

Estimate of the annual economic impact of treatment of cranial cruciate ligament injury in dogs in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the economic impact to veterinary clients for the medical and surgical treatment of rupture of the cranial cruciate ligament (RCCL) in dogs for the year 2003. DESIGN: Economic impact survey. SAMPLE POPULATION: 501 diplomates of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons (ACVS) indicating that their area of surgical emphasis was small animal orthopedic surgery or small animal general and orthopedic surgery and 4,000 veterinarians indicating to the AVMA that their professional area was small animal practice exclusive or mixed animal practice (at least 80% small animal). PROCEDURE: Veterinarians were surveyed concerning the cost for medical and surgical treatment of RCCL for 2003. The economic impact was calculated by multiplying the number of RCCL surgeries performed by the mean cost of surgery. This was added to the number of RCCL cases managed medically multiplied by the mean cost of medical management. This estimate for survey responders was extrapolated to the total number of veterinarians in the study population for the ACVS or AVMA. RESULTS: Estimates for the total cost of surgery were $171,730,134.72 and $1,020,167,907 for veterinarians in the ACVS and AVMA populations, respectively. The cost of medical management was $2,885,687.86 and $126,558,155.16 for veterinarians in the ACVS and AVMA populations, respectively. After combining the ACVS and AVMA populations, we estimated that owners spent $1.32 billion for the treatment of RCCL in the United States in 2003. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: RCCL is a prevalent, costly injury. Results may motivate veterinary and consumer agencies to prioritize funding for a better understanding of the injury.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of the diagnosis of meniscus tears.

BACKGROUND: Diagnostic imaging represents the fastest growing segment of costs in the US health system. This study investigated the cost-effectiveness of alternative diagnostic approaches to meniscus tears of the knee, a highly prevalent disease that traditionally relies on MRI as part of the diagnostic strategy. PURPOSE: To identify the most efficient strategy for the diagnosis of meniscus tears. STUDY DESIGN: Economic and decision analysis; Level of evidence, 1. METHODS: A simple-decision model run as a cost-utility analysis was constructed to assess the value added by MRI in various combinations with patient history and physical examination (H&P). The model examined traumatic and degenerative tears in 2 distinct settings: primary care and orthopaedic sports medicine clinic. Strategies were compared using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). RESULTS: In both practice settings, H&P alone was widely preferred for degenerative meniscus tears. Performing MRI to confirm a positive H&P was preferred for traumatic tears in both practice settings, with a willingness to pay of less than US$50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year. Performing an MRI for all patients was not preferred in any reasonable clinical scenario. The prevalence of a meniscus tear in a clinician's patient population was influential. For traumatic tears, MRI to confirm a positive H&P was preferred when prevalence was less than 46.7%, with H&P preferred above that. For degenerative tears, H&P was preferred until the prevalence reaches 74.2%, and then MRI to confirm a negative was the preferred strategy. In both settings, MRI to confirm positive physical examination led to more than a 10-fold lower rate of unnecessary surgeries than did any other strategy, while MRI to confirm negative physical examination led to a 2.08 and 2.26 higher rate than H&P alone in primary care and orthopaedic clinics, respectively. CONCLUSION: For all practitioners, H&P is the preferred strategy for the suspected degenerative meniscus tear. An MRI to confirm a positive H&P is preferred for traumatic tears for all practitioners. Consideration should be given to implementing alternative diagnostic strategies as well as enhancing provider education in physical examination skills to improve the reliability of H&P as a diagnostic test. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Alternative diagnostic strategies that do not include the use of MRI may result in decreased health care costs without harm to the patient and could possibly reduce unnecessary procedures.

Nonoperative management of the ruptured spleen: a revalidation of criteria.

BACKGROUND: Our goal was to revalidate this institution's original criteria for safe nonoperative management of splenic injury. METHODS: This was a prospective series between October 1991 and December 1995 entering all patients with splenic injury to a modified algorithm. Patients were taken to the operating room if hemodynamically unstable (systolic blood pressure less than 90 mm Hg; pulse greater than 110 beats per minute) after 2 liters of fluid resuscitation, positive abdominal examination findings, American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Organ Injury Scale Grade IV or V injuries by computed tomographic scan (unless younger than 15 years old), or associated severe head injuries (unless younger than 15 years old), or age greater than 55. The remainder of the patients were closely observed. RESULTS: One hundred seventy-three patients were entered-six were excluded by death before operating room salvage, and one was excluded because of operation for a ruptured thoracic aorta. Therefore 166 patients were reviewed. Seventy splenectomies and 18 splenorrhaphies were performed, and 78 patients were treated nonoperatively (58% splenic salvage). Two failures occurred in the nonoperative group: a 16-year-old with a grade IV hilar injury was operated on on the eighth day after injury because of a continually falling hematocrit, and a 25-year-old with unresolved tachycardia was operated on at 6 hours (97% success rate). The patients in the operative group had a greater severity of injury as determined by mean Injury Severity Score of 32, 18 deaths, a mean transfusion requirement of 14 units of blood compared with mean injury severity score of 21, two deaths from brain injury, and no transfusions given in 58 of the 78 nonoperative cases. CONCLUSIONS: Prospectively applied, these guidelines allow the safe nonoperative management of patients with blunt splenic injury.

Prevention and screening programs for anterior cruciate ligament injuries in young athletes: a cost-effectiveness analysis.

BACKGROUND: Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries are common among young athletes. Biomechanical studies have led to the development of training programs to improve neuromuscular control and reduce ACL injury rates as well as screening tools to identify athletes at higher risk for ACL injury. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these training methods and screening strategies for preventing ACL injuries. METHODS: A decision-analysis model was created to evaluate three strategies for a population of young athletes participating in organized sports: (1) no training or screening, (2) universal neuromuscular training, and (3) universal screening, with neuromuscular training for identified high-risk athletes only. Risk of injury, risk reduction from training, and sensitivity and specificity of screening were based on published data from clinical trials. Costs of training and screening programs were estimated on the basis of the literature. Sensitivity analyses were performed on key model parameters to evaluate their effect on base case conclusions. RESULTS: Universal neuromuscular training of all athletes was the dominant strategy, with better outcomes and lower costs compared with screening. On average, the implementation of a universal training program would save $100 per player per season, and would reduce the incidence of ACL injury from 3% to 1.1% per season. Screening was not cost-effective within the range of reported sensitivity and specificity values. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Given its low cost and ease of implementation, neuromuscular training of all young athletes represents a cost-effective strategy for reducing costs and morbidity from ACL injuries. While continued innovations on inexpensive and accurate screening methods to identify high-risk athletes remain of interest, improving existing training protocols and implementing neuromuscular training into routine training for all young athletes is warranted.

Societal and economic impact of anterior cruciate ligament tears.

BACKGROUND: An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear is a common knee injury, particularly among young and active individuals. Little is known, however, about the societal impacts of ACL tears, which could be large given the typical patient age and increased lifetime risk of knee osteoarthritis. This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of ACL reconstruction compared with structured rehabilitation only. METHODS: A cost-utility analysis of ACL reconstruction compared with structured rehabilitation only was conducted with use of a Markov decision model over two time horizons: the short to intermediate term (six years), on the basis of Level-I evidence derived from the KANON Study and the Multicenter Orthopaedic Outcomes Network (MOON) database; and the lifetime, on the basis of a comprehensive literature review. Utilities were assessed with use of the SF-6D. Costs (in 2012 U.S. dollars) were estimated from the societal perspective and included the effects of the ACL tear on work status, earnings, and disability. Effectiveness was expressed as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained. RESULTS: In the short to intermediate term, ACL reconstruction was both less costly (a cost reduction of $4503) and more effective (a QALY gain of 0.18) compared with rehabilitation. In the long term, the mean lifetime cost to society for a typical patient undergoing ACL reconstruction was $38,121 compared with $88,538 for rehabilitation. ACL reconstruction resulted in a mean incremental cost savings of $50,417 while providing an incremental QALY gain of 0.72 compared with rehabilitation. Effectiveness gains were driven by the higher probability of an unstable knee and associated lower utility in the rehabilitation group. Results were most sensitive to the rate of knee instability after initial rehabilitation. CONCLUSIONS: ACL reconstruction is the preferred cost-effective treatment strategy for ACL tears and yields reduced societal costs relative to rehabilitation once indirect cost factors, such as work status and earnings, are considered. The cost of an ACL tear over the lifetime of a patient is substantial, and resources should be directed to developing innovations for injury prevention and for altering the natural history of an ACL injury.

It is money that matters: decision analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Clinical decisions must be made, often under circumstances of uncertainty and limited resources. Decision analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis are methodologic tools that allow for quantitative analysis and the optimization of decision-making. These methods can be useful for decisions regarding individual patient evaluation and treatment options or in formulating healthcare policy. We overview the methodology of expected value decision analysis and of cost-effectiveness analysis, including cost-identification, cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and cost-utility analyses. Examples are provided of these methods and a user's guide to cost-effectiveness analysis is outlined.