Logo image
Back
Two-year cost comparison of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures: are initial surgical costs misleading?
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Two-year cost comparison of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures: are initial surgical costs misleading?

K. L. Ong, E. Lau, J. E. Kemner and S. M. Kurtz
Osteoporosis international, v 24(4), pp 1437-1445
01 Apr 2013
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-012-2100-0
PMID: 22872070
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Endocrinology & Metabolism Life Sciences & Biomedicine Science & Technology
The costs for treating kypho- and vertebroplasty patients were evaluated at up to 2 years postsurgery. There were no significant differences in adjusted costs in the first 9 months postsurgery, but kyphoplasty patients were associated with significantly lower adjusted treatment costs by 6.8-7.9 % in the remaining periods through 2 years postsurgery. Vertebral augmentation has been shown to be safe and effective for treating vertebral compression fractures. Comparative cost studies of initial treatment costs for kypho- and vertebroplasty have been mixed. The purpose of our study was to compare the costs for treating kypho- and vertebroplasty patients at up to 2 years postsurgery. Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty patients diagnosed with pathologic or closed lumbar/thoracic vertebral fractures were identified from the 5 % sample of the Medicare dataset (2006-2009). The final study cohort with at least 2 years follow-up comprised of 1,609 vertebroplasty and 2,878 kyphoplasty patients. The cumulative treatment costs (adjusted to June 2011 US$) were determined from the payer perspective. Differences in costs and length of stay were assessed by generalized linear mixed model regression, adjusting for covariates. The average adjusted costs for vertebroplasty patients within the first quarter and the first 2 years postsurgery were $14,585 [95 % confidence interval (CI), $14,109-15,078] and $44,496 (95 % CI, $42,763-46,299), respectively. The corresponding average adjusted costs for kyphoplasty patients were $15,117 (95 % CI, $14,752-15,491) and $41,339 (95 % CI, $40,154-42,560). There were no significant differences in adjusted costs in the first 9 months postsurgery, but kyphoplasty patients were associated with significantly lower adjusted treatment costs by 6.8-7.9 % in the remaining periods through 2 years postsurgery. Our present study addresses some of the limitations in previous comparative cost studies of vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. The higher adjusted costs for vertebroplasty patients than kyphoplasty patients by 1 year following the surgery reflect greater utilization of medical resources.

Metrics

8 Record Views
20 citations in Web of Science
22 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Web of Science research areas
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Logo image