RESOURCE USE AND COSTS OF ELECTIVE SURGERY FOR ASYMPTOMATIC ABDOMINALAORTIC-ANEURYSM

Objectives: To determine the hospital costs of elective abdominal aort ic aneurysm repair. Design: Observational study of resource use. Mater ials: Forty-six elective aneurysm surgery patients in a hospital; 116 vascular surgeons participating in the U.K. Small Aneurysm Trial. Meth ods: Data on resource use and associated costs were obtained in 1993 f or 46 patients who had undergone elective surgery in a teaching hospit al. Comparability of resource use with other hospitals in the U.K. was obtained from data on surgical patients in the U.K. Small Aneurysm Tr ial, and by questionnaire on use of resources sent to surgeons partici pating in the trial. Results: The total cost of an elective aneurysm r epair calculated from patient data in the teaching hospital was pound 4592. One-third of costs were due to stay in a standard surgical ward, and 20% were attributable to the operation. Overall, the use of resou rces in U.K. hospitals was comparable to that for the teaching hospita l. Based on the surgeons' estimates, however, considerable variation e xisted for typical elective aneurysm patients, with costs ranging from pound 2173 to pound 7024. Conclusions: In the U.K. the average cost o f an elective aneurysm repair in 1993 was around pound 4600, which was equivalent to around pound 5000 (US$8000) in 1996. This estimate is s ufficiently reliable to be used in cost effectiveness analyses.