Holmium laser prostatectomy in a tertiary Italian center: A prospective cost analysis in comparison with bipolar TURP and open prostatectomy


Submitted: February 17, 2019
Accepted: April 2, 2019
Published: June 23, 2020
Abstract Views: 1655
PDF: 827
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

  • Riccardo Schiavina Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Lorenzo Bianchi Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Marco Giampaoli Department of Urology, Abano Terme Hospital, Padua, Italy.
  • Marco Borghesi Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Hussam Dababneh Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Francesco Chessa Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Cristian Pultrone Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Andrea Angiolini Department of Urology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Umberto Barbaresi Department of Urology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Matteo Cevenini Department of Urology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Fabio Manferrari Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Alessandro Bertaccini Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
  • Angelo Porreca Department of Urology, Abano Terme Hospital, Padua, Italy.
  • Eugenio Brunocilla Department of Urology, University of Bologna; Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), Cardio-Nephro-Thoracic Sciences Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.

Objective: To assess the economic impact of Holmium laser enucleation of prostate (HoLEP) in comparison with transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) and open prostatectomy (OP).
Methods: Between January 2017 and January 2018, we prospectively enrolled 151 men who underwent HoLEP, TURP or OP at tertiary Italian center, due to bladder outflow obstruction symptoms. Patients with prostate volume ≤ 70 cc and those with prostate volume > 70 cc were scheduled for TURP or HoLEP and OP or HoLEP, respectively. Intraoperative and early post-operative functional outcomes were recorded up to 6 months follow up. Cost analysis was carried out considering direct costs (operating room [OR] utilization costs, nurse, surgeons and anesthesiologists’ costs, OR disposable products costs and OR products sterilization costs), indirect costs (hospital stay costs and diagnostics costs) and global costs as sum of both direct and indirect plus general costs related to hospitalization. Cost analysis was performed comparing patients referred to TURP and HoLEP with prostate volume ≤ 70 cc and men underwent OP and HoLEP with prostate volume > 70 cc respectively.
Results: Overall, 53 (35.1%), 51 (33.7%) and 47 (31.1%) were scheduled to HoLEP, TURP and OP, respectively. Both TURP, HoLEP and OP proved to effectively improve urinary symptoms related to BPE. Considering patients with prostate volume ≤ 70 cc, median global cost of HoLEP was similar to median global cost of TURP (2151.69 € vs. 2185.61 €, respectively; p = 0.61). Considering patients with prostate volume > 70 cc, median global cost of HoLEP was found to be significantly lower than median global cost of OP (2174.15 € vs. 4064.97 €, respectively; p ≤ 0.001).
Conclusions: Global costs of HoLEP are comparable to those of TURP, offering a cost saving of only 11.4 € in favor of HoLEP. Conversely, HoLEP proved to be a strong competitor of OP because of significant global cost sparing amounting to 1890.82 € in favor of HoLEP.


Schiavina, R., Bianchi, L., Giampaoli, M., Borghesi, M., Dababneh, H., Chessa, F., Pultrone, C., Angiolini, A., Barbaresi, U., Cevenini, M., Manferrari, F., Bertaccini, A., Porreca, A., & Brunocilla, E. (2020). Holmium laser prostatectomy in a tertiary Italian center: A prospective cost analysis in comparison with bipolar TURP and open prostatectomy. Archivio Italiano Di Urologia E Andrologia, 92(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/aiua.2020.2.82

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations