ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Italian Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery 2015 September;22(3):119-24

Copyright © 2015 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Early cost comparisons between cryosclerosis and great saphenous vein stripping in Hungary

Balint I. B. ¹, Balint R. ², Vargovics E. ³, Farics A. ¹, Vizsy L. ¹

¹ Department of Surgery, Kanizsai Dorottya Hospital, Nagykanizsa, Hungary; ² Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary; ³ Department of Radiology, Kanizsai Dorottya Hospital, Hospital of Nagykanizsa, Nagykanizsa, Hungary

AIM: Cryosclerosis was introduced by Milleret and LePivert in the 1980s. It is the endovenous cryoablation of the great saphenous vein (GSV) performed after groin dissection and combined with phlebectomy of varices. Cryosclerosis seems to be minimal invasive and efficient on the short term. The procedural costs of cryosurgery are very favourable compared to the widely spread endovenous laser ablation (EVLA) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA). The aim of this article was to analyze the early costs between cryosclerosis and classical stripping of the GSV.
METHODS: Economic evaluation was performed by analyzing the financial records of a prospective non-randomized single center study on 96 limbs.
RESULTS: The characteristics of patients were similar in each group, except for the distribution of age (P=0.026) and off-work time (P<0.001). There was no significant difference regarding the costs of use between cryosclerosis and classical stripping (P=0.990). The endovenous cryoablation seems to have significant benefits over the traditional treatment in point of the sick leave wages (P=0.006). Comparing the total costs of the methods, classical stripping was more favorable.
CONCLUSION: In this study, the beneficial socioeconomic effect of cryosclerosis was not proved because of the higher price of the initial equipment. The study has weak conclusions due to biases and confounders.