Study finds knee arthroscopy, ACL reconstruction cost-effective (OrthoSuperSite)
Knee arthroscopy and ACL reconstruction are cost-effective, according to this retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from researchers in New Mexico.
The team looked at data from a single-surgeon outcomes registry, analyzing one cohort of 93 patients with arthroscopically treated knees and one cohort of 35 patients who underwent ACL reconstructions. The outcome measure for the study was cost-effectiveness as determined by the cost of a quality-adjusted life year (QALY), which itself is calculated by multiplying the difference in preoperative and postoperative health-related quality of life by life expectancy. Health-related quality of life was determined through use of the Quality of Well-Being scale.
“Costs are facility charges per the facility cost-to-charges ratio plus surgeon fee,” the authors wrote. “Sensitivity analyses are performed to determine the effect of variations in costs or outcomes.”
With a mean follow-up of 2.1 years, the authors were able to determine a cost per QALY of $5,783 for arthroscopy and $10,326 for ACL reconstruction.
“Sensitivity analysis shows that our results are robust (relatively insensitive) to variations in costs or outcomes,” the authors wrote.