Costs Associated With Single-Use and Conventional Sets for Distal Radius Plating

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic surgery
• Health economics

Background:

• Volar plating for distal radius fractures is common.
• Single-use fixation sets are promoted for efficiency and cost reduction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the actual cost of conventional instrument sets with the projected cost of single-use sets for volar plating.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 30 distal radius fracture cases using conventional sets.
• Calculation of hardware and processing costs for conventional sets.
• Comparison with projected costs of single-use sets.

Main Results:

• Conventional sets cost $2,728 on average, while single-use sets were projected at $2,868.
• 77% of cases required additional screws not included in single-use sets, adding $282/case.
• Conventional sets were cheaper in 83% of cases.

Conclusions:

• Conventional sets are more cost-effective for volar plating of distal radius fractures.
• Single-use sets require additional screws in most cases, increasing their overall expense.
• Future cost-effectiveness of single-use sets may improve with better screw stocking.