Endometrial cancer surgery costs: robot vs laparoscopy

Area of Science:

• Gynecologic Oncology
• Surgical Innovation
• Health Economics

Background:

• Endometrial cancer staging often involves hysterectomy and lymph node resection.
• Minimally invasive surgical techniques like laparoscopy and robotic-assisted surgery are increasingly used.
• Comparative cost-effectiveness of these techniques is crucial for healthcare providers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the surgical costs of robotic-assisted versus traditional laparoscopic methods for endometrial cancer staging.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective chart review of 33 women undergoing endometrial cancer staging.
• Analysis of hospital cost data including operating room time, instrumentation, and disposables.
• Comparison between robotic and traditional laparoscopic surgical approaches.

Main Results:

• Robotic procedures incurred higher mean operative costs ($3323 vs $2029) and total hospital costs ($5084 vs $3615).
• Increased costs for robotic surgery were attributed to longer operating room times and significantly higher disposable instrumentation expenses.
• All cost differences between robotic and traditional laparoscopic surgery were statistically significant (p<.001 to p=.002).

Conclusions:

• Robotic-assisted surgery for endometrial cancer staging is significantly more costly than traditional laparoscopy.
• The higher cost of robotic surgery is primarily due to disposable instrumentation.
• Further research may be needed to evaluate long-term cost-effectiveness and patient outcomes.