In-hospital cost comparison between the standard lateral and supercapsular percutaneously-assisted total hip surgical techniques for total hip replacement.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to compare the in-hospital costs associated with the tissue-sparing supercapsular percutaneously-assisted total hip (SuperPath) and traditional Lateral surgical techniques for total hip replacement (THR).


METHODS
Between April 2013 and January 2014, in-hospital costs were reviewed for all THRs performed using the SuperPath technique by a single surgeon and all THRs performed using the Lateral technique by another surgeon at the same institution.


RESULTS
Overall, costs were 28.4% higher in the Lateral group. This was largely attributable to increased costs associated with transfusion (+92.5%), patient rooms (+60.4%), patient food (+62.8%), narcotics (+42.5%), physical therapy (+52.5%), occupational therapy (+88.6%), and social work (+92.9%). The only costs noticeably increased for SuperPath were for imaging (+105.9%), and this was because the SuperPath surgeon performed intraoperative radiographs on all patients while the Lateral surgeon did not.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of the SuperPath technique resulted in in-hospital cost reductions of over 28%, suggesting that this tissue-sparing surgical technique can be cost-effective primarily by facilitating early mobilisation and patient discharge even during a surgeon's initial experience with the approach.
['Gofton|Wade|W|', 'Fitch|David A|DA|']
D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis D005260:Female D017721:Hospital Costs D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D010351:Patient Discharge
Supercapsular percutaneously-assisted total hip Total hip replacement Tissue-sparing SuperPath Economic analysis Lateral approach