Abstract: It is essential to assess the immediate and long-term financial impacts of robotic surgery as it becomes increasingly common, particularly among prostate cancer patients . This study aims to compare the one-year postoperative medical costs and utilization between open radical prostatectomy (ORP) and robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). The study utilized data from patients who underwent ORP and RARP and was obtained from a a US commercial claims database spanning from 2013 to 2018.

Findings indicated that although the initial costs of RARP were higher, the total medical costs within one-year post-surgery were similar between the two surgical methods. Nonetheless, patients in the RARP group showed significantly reduced postoperative medical utilization, which may offset the higher initial costs. The results suggested that the lower post-discharge healthcare usage associated with robotic-assisted prostatectomy may counterbalance the higher expenses incurred during the index hospitalization.

Article Link: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.2265