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The following is a summary of “Lack of Association of Pediatric Surgical Patient Outcomes with Increased Disposable Operating Room Supply Costs,” published in the March 2024 issue of Pediatrics by Acker et al.

There exists considerable variability in the expenses incurred from disposable operating room supplies among surgeons conducting identical procedures within the same institution. However, the precise correlation between this variability and patient outcomes remains to be determined. In this study, the researchers sought to investigate the potential relationship between the costs of disposable supplies and patient outcomes across a spectrum of sixteen frequently performed operations.

Methodologically, the investigators analyzed cost data about the most prevalent procedures conducted by five distinct surgical divisions at a single pediatric hospital over six months in 2021. For each procedure, the study group computed the median expenses attributed to disposable operating room supplies. Subsequently, the study group classified each operation as either low cost (below the median for the respective surgical group) or high cost (above the group’s median). The investigators then scrutinized the incidence rates of adverse events, including clinic visits within five days, emergency department visits within 30 days, unplanned reoperations, unplanned readmissions, anesthesia complications, extended hospital stays, necessity for blood product transfusions, or mortality, among procedures with low versus high disposable supply costs.

The comprehensive analysis encompassed 1,139 surgeries conducted by 48 individual surgeons across five specialized fields. Of these, 596 procedures (52%) were categorized as low cost, while 543 (48%) were deemed high cost. Demographic characteristics did not significantly differ between the low and high-cost groups. Overall, approximately 21.9% of pediatric patients experienced adverse outcomes, with no discernible discrepancy observed between the low and high-cost groups, whether evaluated individually or collectively (20.5% vs. 23.6%, p=0.23).

In conclusion, the findings indicate that, across a diverse array of pediatric surgical procedures, the expenditure associated with disposable operating room supplies did not exhibit a meaningful association with the likelihood of adverse outcomes.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022346824002008