Economic Impact of an Enhanced Recovery Pathway for Lung Resection

Multimodal enhanced recovery pathways (ERP) improve clinical outcomes and hospital length of stay for patients undergoing lung resection. However, data supporting their economic impact is lacking. This study evaluated the effect of an ERP on costs of lung resection.

Adult patients undergoing elective lung resection from August 2011 to August 2013 at a single university-affiliated institution were prospectively recruited. Pneumonectomies and extended resections were excluded. Beginning in September 2012, patients were enrolled in a multimodal ERP. Outcomes were recorded until 90 days after discharge. Total costs from institutional, health care system, and societal perspectives are reported in 2016 Canadian dollars, with uncertainty expressed as 95% confidence intervals derived using bootstrapped estimates (10,000 repetitions).

The study included 133 patients (conventional care: n = 58; ERP: n = 75). Patient and operative characteristics were similar between the groups. The ERP group had shorter median (interquartile range) length of stay (4 [3 to 6] days vs 6 [4 to 9] days, p < 0.01), decreased total complications (32% vs 52%, p = 0.02), and decreased pulmonary complications (16% vs 34%, p = 0.01), with no difference in readmissions. After discharge, there was a trend towards less caregiver burden for the ERP group (53 ± 90 hours vs 101 ± 252 hours, p = 0.17). Overall societal costs were lower in the ERP group (mean difference per patient: -$4,396 Canadian; 95% confidence interval -$8,674 to $618 Canadian).

A multidisciplinary ERP is associated with improved clinical outcomes and societal cost savings compared with conventional perioperative management for elective lung resection.