Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
4 years ago

Arthroscopic meniscectomy for degenerative meniscal tears reduces knee pain but is not cost-effective in a routine health care setting: a multi-center longitudinal observational study using data from the osteoarthritis initiative

It is disputed whether arthroscopic meniscectomy is an (cost-) effective treatment for degenerative meniscus tears in day-to-day clinical practice. The objective of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of arthroscopic meniscectomy in subjects with knee osteoarthritis, in routine clinical practice, while taking into account the increased risk for future knee replacement surgery. We compared cost-effectiveness of arthroscopic meniscectomy compared to no surgery. Design – We used a state transition (Markov) simulation model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of arthroscopic meniscectomy compared to no surgery in subjects with knee osteoarthritis (age range 45– 79 years). Data used in the preparation of the current study were obtained from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (AOI) database. We applied a 9 years’ time horizon (which is equal to the current OAI study follow up period), and evaluated cost-effectiveness from a societal perspective. The main outcome measure was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (Euros per quality adjusted life-year (QALY) gained. Results Arthroscopic meniscectomy was associated with 8.09 (SD ±0.07) QALYs at a cost of € 21,345 (SD ±841), whereas the no surgery was associated with 8.05 (SD ±0.07) QALYs at a cost of € 16,284 (SD ±855). For arthroscopic meniscectomy, the incremental cost per QALY gained was € 150,754. Conclusions In day-to-day clinical practice, arthroscopic meniscectomy in subjects with knee osteoarthritis is associated with € 150,754 per QALY gained, which exceeds the generally accepted willingness to pay (range € 20,000 - € 80,000).

Publisher URL: www.sciencedirect.com/science

DOI: S1063458417311901

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.