Authors' objectives:

To compare the direct costs to the Quebec health care system of three different methods of treating gallstone disease.

Authors' results and conclusions: The average costs (and lower and upper bounds) of the three procedures are as follows:1) Conventional Cholecystectomy (CC) -$3,195 ($2,133-$6,331), 2) Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC) - $2,889 ($1,704-$5,830), 3) Extracorporeal Lithotripsy (ESWL) - $3,936 ($2,367-$6,243). Thus, in terms of direct costs to the health care system, LC had a small but definite advantage over the two other interventions. If all professional fees are excluded, the costs of the two surgical procedures are $2,058 ($651-$4,419) for CC and $1,902 ($927-$5,511) for LC. Thus, in terms of a hospital's budget, the cost of LC is only very slightly lower. However, the principal cause of the lower cost of LC is the shorter hospital stay. A hospital which uses the beds liberated by conversion from CC to LC for other cases of equal intensity, will incur an increased load on its budget of the order of $464 per case.

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.aetmis.gouv.qc.ca/

Year Published: 1993

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: Canada

Organisation Name: Conseil d'Evaluation des Technologies de la Santé du Québec

Contact Address: Conseil d'Evaluation des Technologies de la Santé du Québec, 2021, avenue Union, #1040, Montréal, Québec H3A S29, Canada. Tel: 514-873-2563; FAX: 514-873-1369

Contact Name: aetmis@aetmis.gouv.qc.ca

Contact Email: aetmis@aetmis.gouv.qc.ca

Copyright: Conseil d'Evaluation des Technologies de la Sante du Quebec (CETS)