Cost-effectiveness of intravenous acetaminophen and ketorolac in adolescents undergoing idiopathic scoliosis surgery.

BACKGROUND: Enhanced recovery after surgery protocols increasingly use multimodal analgesia after major surgeries with intravenous acetaminophen and ketorolac, despite no documented cost-effectiveness of these strategies. AIMS: The goal of this prospective cohort study was to model cost-effectiveness of adding acetaminophen or acetaminophen + ketorolac to opioids for postoperative outcomes in children having scoliosis surgery. METHODS: Of 106 postsurgical children, 36 received only opioids, 26 received intravenous acetaminophen, and 44 received acetaminophen + ketorolac as analgesia adjuncts. Costs were calculated in 2015 US $. Decision analytic model was constructed with Decision Maker® software. Base-case and sensitivity analyses were performed with effectiveness defined as avoidance of opioid adverse effects. RESULTS: The groups were comparable demographically. Compared with opioids-only strategy, subjects in the intravenous acetaminophen + ketorolac strategy consumed less opioids (P = .002; difference in mean morphine consumption on postoperative days 1 and 2 was -0.44 mg/kg (95% CI -0.72 to -0.16); tolerated meals earlier (P < .001; RR 0.250 (0.112-0.556)) and had less constipation (P < .001; RR 0.226 (0.094-0.546)). Base-case analysis showed that of the 3 strategies, use of opioids alone is both most costly and least effective, opioids + intravenous acetaminophen is intermediate in both cost and effectiveness; and opioids + intravenous acetaminophen and ketorolac is the least expensive and most effective strategy. The addition of intravenous acetaminophen with or without ketorolac to an opioid-only strategy saves $510-$947 per patient undergoing spine surgery and decreases opioid side effects. CONCLUSION: Intravenous acetaminophen with or without ketorolac reduced opioid consumption, opioid-related adverse effects, length of stay, and thereby cost of care following idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents compared with opioids-alone postoperative analgesia strategy.

Cost-effectiveness of intravenous acetaminophen for pediatric tonsillectomy.

OBJECTIVE: The primary outcome of this study was to examine the cost-effectiveness of the intraoperative combination of intravenous (IV) acetaminophen and IV opioids, versus IV opioids alone, as a part of an inhalational anesthetic technique for tonsillectomy in children. METHODS: We used Decision Maker® software to construct and analyze a decision analytic model. Base-case and sensitivity analyses were performed. We studied the use of rescue analgesics in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU), adverse effects of acetaminophen and opioids, and costs associated with adverse effects. Costs were in 2013 US dollars, and effectiveness was measured as frequency of avoiding the need for rescue analgesics. Direct medical costs included medication, equipment, supplies, and labor associated with the treatment of adverse events from pain medications. Medication costs assumed single-dose vials. RESULTS: In the base case, IV acetaminophen in combination with opioids was both less costly ($17.12) and more effective (3.3% fewer rescue events). In sensitivity analyses, the combination strategy remained cost-effective as long as the frequency of rescue analgesic administration was less than that in the opioid-alone strategy. Although medication costs of the combination strategy were higher, the overall costs were less than the competing strategy due to reduced adverse effects and reduced time spent in PACU. CONCLUSIONS: The routine use of IV acetaminophen as an adjuvant to IV opioids for tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy in children aged <17 years should be considered as a means to reduce the need for rescue analgesia and in turn reduce costs.