[Cost effectiveness of intraoperative three-dimensional imaging with a mobile surgical C-arm]

DRGs lead to a new definition of refunding medical treatment. The calculated DRG covers all costs of the individual hospital stay of each patient. Any revision surgery is not refunded separately. Especially in spine surgery and in articular fractures, postoperative X-ray control sometime reveals malposition of implants that later require operative revision. The latter causes additional costs that can be in the range of 50% of the whole refund as shown here for tibia plateau and calcaneus fractures. New intraoperative 3D fluoro techniques provide CT-like images of bones and joints that enable the surgeon to optimize implant positions immediately. Despite higher initial costs as compared to conventional imaging devices, these technologies help to increase process quality in the OR and clearly save costs.