Processing and Handling Cost of Single-use Versus Traditional Instrumentation for 1 Level Lumbar Fusions. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • STUDY DESIGN: A single center, observational prospective clinical study. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the instrumentation-related cost and efficiency of single-use instrumentation versus traditional reusable instrument trays. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Single-use instrumentation provides the opportunity to reduce costs associated with cleaning and sterilizing instrumentation after surgery. Although previous studies have shown single-use instrumentation is effective in other orthopedic specialties, it is unclear if single-use instrumentation could provide economic advantages in spine surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 40 (20 reusable instrumentation and 20 single-use instrumentation) lumbar decompression (1-3 level) and fusion (1 level) spine surgeries were collected. Instrument handling, opening, setup, re-stocking, cleaning, sterilization, inspection, packaging, and storage were recorded by direct observation for both reusable and single-use instrumentation. The rate of infection was noted for each group. RESULTS: Mean time of handling instruments by the scrub nurse was 11.6 (±3.9) minutes for reusable instrumentation and 2.1 (±0.5) minutes for single-use instrumentation. Mean cost of handling reusable instruments was estimated to be $8.52 (±$2.96) per case, and the average cost to reprocess a single tray by Sterilization Processing Department (SPD) was $58. Thus, the median cost for sterilizing 2 reusable trays per case was $116, resulting in an average total Costresuable of $124.52 (±$2.96). Mean cost of handling single-use instrumentation was estimated to be $1.57 ($0.38) per case. CONCLUSION: Single-use instrumentation provided greater cost savings and reduced time from the opening of instrumentation to use in surgery when compared with reusable instrumentation.

authors

  • Galetta, Matthew S
  • Divi, Srikanth N
  • Shapses, Mark
  • Hartman, Joseph B
  • Nicholson, Kristen J
  • Goyal, Dhruv K C
  • Fang, Taolin
  • Mangan, John J
  • Kaye, Ian David
  • Kurd, Mark F
  • Woods, Barrett I
  • Radcliff, Kris E
  • Rihn, Jeffrey A
  • Anderson, David Greg
  • Hilibrand, Alan S
  • Kepler, Christopher K
  • Vaccaro, Alexander R
  • Schroeder, Gregory D

publication date

  • February 1, 2021

Research

keywords

  • Operating Rooms
  • Surgical Instruments

Identity

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85100445482

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1097/BSD.0000000000001033

PubMed ID

  • 32554985

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 34

issue

  • 1