Cost-effectiveness of general anesthesia vs spinal anesthesia in fast-track abdominal benign hysterectomy

The study objective was to compare total costs for hospital stay and postoperative recovery for 2 groups of women who underwent fast-track abdominal benign hysterectomy: 1 group under general anesthesia; 1 group under spinal anesthesia. Costs were evaluated in relation to health-related quality of life.

Costs of treatment were analyzed retrospectively with data from a randomized multicenter study at 5 hospitals in Sweden. Of 180 women who were scheduled for benign abdominal hysterectomy, 162 women were assigned randomly for the study: 80 women allocated to general anesthesia and 82 women to spinal anesthesia.

Total costs (hospital costs plus cost-reduced productivity costs) were lower for the spinal anesthesia group. Women who had spinal anesthesia had a faster recovery that was measured by health-related quality of life and quality adjusted life-years gained in postoperative month 1.

The use of spinal anesthesia for fast-track benign abdominal hysterectomy was more cost-effective than general anesthesia.