Cost comparison of open approach, transoral laser microsurgery and transoral robotic surgery for partial and total laryngectomies

Activity-based costing is used to give a better insight into the actual cost structure of open, transoral laser microsurgery (TLM) and transoral robotic surgery (TORS) supraglottic and total laryngectomies. Cost data were obtained from hospital administration, personnel and vendor structured interviews. A process map identified 17 activities, to which the detailed cost data are related. One-way sensitivity analyses on the patient throughput, the cost of the equipment or operative times were performed. The total cost for supraglottic open (135–203 min), TLM (110–210 min) and TORS (35–130 min) approaches were 3,349 € (3,193–3,499 €), 3,461 € (3,207–3,664 €) and 5,650 € (4,297–5,974 €), respectively. For total laryngectomy, the overall cost were 3,581 € (3,215–3,846 €) for open and 6,767 € (6,418–7,389 €) for TORS. TORS cost is mostly influenced by equipment (54 %) where the other procedures are predominantly determined by personnel cost (about 45 %). Even when we doubled the yearly case-load, used the shortest operative times or a calculation without robot equipment costs we did not reach cost equivalence. TORS is more expensive than standard approaches and mainly influenced by purchase and maintenance costs and the use of proprietary instruments. Further trials on long-term outcomes and costs following TORS are needed to evaluate its cost-effectiveness.