Cost-effectiveness of Balloon Kyphoplasty for Patients With Acute/Subacute Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures in the Super-Aging Japanese Society

Study Design. A propensity score matching study. Objective. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of balloon kyphoplasty (BKP) in Japan. Summary of Background Data. Osteoporotic vertebral fracture (OVF) is a common disease in elderly people. In Japan, the incidence of painful OVF in 2008 was estimated as 880,000, and approximately 40% of patients with painful OVF are hospitalized due to the severity of pain. Japan is the front runner among super-aged societies and rising health care costs are an economic problem. Methods. BKP and nonsurgical management (NSM) for acute/subacute OVF were performed in 116 and 420 cases, respectively. Quality-adjusted life years (QALY) and incremental costs were calculated on the basis of a propensity score matching study. QALY was evaluated using the SF-6D questionnaire. Finally, using a Markov model, incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated for 71 matched cases. Results. In the comparison between BKP and NSM, mean patients age was 78.3 and 77.7 years, respectively (P = 0.456). The BKP procedure cost 402,988 JPY more than NSM and the gains in QALY at the 6-month follow-up were 0.153 and 0.120, respectively (difference = 0.033). ICERs for 3 and 20 years were 4,404,158 JPY and 2,416,406 JPY, respectively. According to sensitivity analysis, ICERs ranged from 652,181 JPY to 4,896,645 JPY (4418-33,168 GBP). Conclusion. This study demonstrated that BKP is a cost-effective treatment option for OVF in Japan. However, the effect might be blunted in patients aged > 80 years. Further research is necessary to elucidate the cost-effectiveness of BKP in this population.