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.