Cost Analysis of Thyroidectomy

BackgroundSurgical costs per procedure may vary by surgeon due to operating time and equipment selection.MethodsCost and materials data were analyzed using an institutional database from a large academic, quaternary care center. The analysis included 475 thyroidectomy-coded operations performed by 13 surgeons from department A (n = 6) and department B (n = 7) between 2021 and 2023.ResultsMean time cost of procedures was significantly lower for department A surgeons by $112 compared to department B (p = .03). There was no statistically significant difference between the material cost of procedures between departments (p = .40). The highest average material cost for a single surgeon was $1590 with the lowest being $523, demonstrating the high degree of variability between surgeons.DiscussionExamining cost of materials alone, the highest and lowest-cost-ranked surgeons had a difference of $1067. Standardization of surgical trays and avoidance of outlier materials may be future avenues for research in decreasing costs.