Direct and indirect cost of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

A prospective study of 53 patients employed in the 6-month period before coronary angioplasty was performed to determine the direct and indirect costs of lag time in work resumption. The total direct costs calculated were $273,480; indirect costs for this sample were $150,944. When these costs are generalized to all patients in the US undergoing uncomplicated percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, the costs are more than $1.2 billion. This study demonstrated that even in patients with a high a priori probability of work return, delay in work resumption results in a greater cost to the individual and society through absence from the labor force.