A Comparative Direct Cost Analysis of Pediatric Urologic Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery Versus Open Surgery: Could Robot-Assisted Surgery Be Less Expensive?

Abstract

Direct costs for robot-assisted surgery were significantly lower than equivalent open surgery. Factors reducing robot-assisted surgery costs included: A consistent and trained robotic surgery team, an extensive history of performing urologic robotic surgery, selection of patients for robotic surgery who otherwise would have had longer hospital stays after open surgery, and selection of procedures without a laparoscopic alternative. The high indirect costs of robot purchase and maintenance remain major factors, but could be overcome by high surgical volume and reduced prices as competitors enter the market.

Cost Analysis of Pediatric Robot-Assisted and Laparoscopic Pyeloplasty

“…Cystoscopy with retrograde stent placement was performed in all of the pure laparoscopic cases. For the 23 robotic cases stent placement via antegrade (10) or retrograde (13) approach was based on attending preference.…”

“…6,7 Prior cost analyses comparing robotic and laparoscopic pyeloplasties have concluded that the laparoscopic approach is significantly less expensive, although analyses were based on an adult population and differed in their allocation of indirect costs. 8,9 In the pediatric urology literature robotic surgery has been shown to be less expensive compared to open surgery, 10 although there has been no comparison of the cost of pediatric laparoscopic and robotic pyeloplasties. Due to variation among institutions and the need to standardize results among studies, we retrospectively identified a representative series of robotic and laparoscopic pyeloplasties performed at our institution, and performed a cost analysis.…”

Quality assessment of economic evaluation studies in pediatric surgery: A systematic review

“…For the same surgical procedure, robot-assisted surgery appeared significantly less expensive than open surgery (11.9% lower than open surgery; $9,550.13 vs $10,834.70; p = 0.03) [50] and than laparoscopy ($16,595 vs $17,384; p b 0.46 and $12,929 vs $17,384; p = 0.0001) when stents were placed in an antegrade fashion [51].…”

Needle-Guiding Robot for Laser Ablation of Liver Tumors Under MRI Guidance

“…Growing evidence suggests that the cost of robotic devices can deter hospitals from introducing new technologies into clinical practice [33]- [35]. For this reason the system should not require expensive special tools but should operate with a standard coaxial needle (Somatex, Teltow, Germany).…”