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Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics 3/2016

01-04-2016 | Original Paper

Opportunity cost in the economic evaluation of da Vinci robotic assisted surgery

Authors: Fernando Fuertes-Guiró, Montserrat Girabent-Farrés, Eduardo Viteri-Velasco

Published in: The European Journal of Health Economics | Issue 3/2016

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Abstract

Objective

This study aims to demonstrate the importance of the opportunity cost in using da Vinci robotic surgery, assisted by a comprehensive review of the literature to determine the differences in the total cost of surgery and operative time in traditional laparoscopic surgery and da Vinci robotic surgery.

Methodology

We identified the studies comparing the use of traditional laparoscopic surgery with robotics during the period 2002–2012 in the electronic economic evaluation databases, and another electronic search was performed for publications by Spanish hospitals in the same period to calculate the opportunity cost. A meta-analysis of response variables considering the total cost of the intervention and surgical time was completed using the items selected in the first revision, and their differences were analyzed. We then calculated the opportunity cost represented by these time differences using the data obtained from the studies in the second review of the literature.

Results

Nine items were selected in the first review and three in the second. Traditional laparoscopic surgery has a lower cost than the da Vinci (p < 0.00001). Robotic surgery takes longer (8.0–65.5 min) than traditional surgery (p < 0.00001), and this difference represents an average opportunity cost for robot use of € 489.98, with a unit cost factor/time which varies according to the pathology dealt with, from € 8.2 to 18.7/min.

Conclusions

The opportunity cost is a quantity that must be included in the total cost of using a surgical technology within an economic cost analysis in the context of an economic evaluation.
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Metadata
Title
Opportunity cost in the economic evaluation of da Vinci robotic assisted surgery
Authors
Fernando Fuertes-Guiró
Montserrat Girabent-Farrés
Eduardo Viteri-Velasco
Publication date
01-04-2016
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
The European Journal of Health Economics / Issue 3/2016
Print ISSN: 1618-7598
Electronic ISSN: 1618-7601
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10198-015-0675-z

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