TLIF, LLIF have statistically similar 2-year patient outcomes, cost effectiveness

NEW ORLEANS — Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion and lateral lumbar interbody fusion are both cost-effective procedures that provide high quality-adjusted life years and similarly positive outcomes at 2 years postsurgery, a speaker said here today.

Gurpeet S. Gandhoke, MD, and colleagues evaluated the difference between the cost-effectiveness ratio and quality-adjusted life years between the two procedures.

“So effectively, based on the data I got, I concluded that both TLIF and LLIF produced equal 2-year patient outcomes and equal cost-effectiveness profiles. The level of improvement in the patient-reported outcomes, which was deemed fit by a patient who qualified as achieving a meaningful improvement, was always less than the extent of improvement that the patient expected for cost involved,” Gandhoke said at the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting.

The study included 45 patients who underwent a single level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) and 29 who underwent a single-level standalone lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF). At 2 years postsurgery, there was no statistically significant difference between the two surgical groups in SF-36 Physical Component Scores, Oswesty Disability Index Scores, VAS back pain scores, VAS leg pain scores and EQ5D scores. The median cost of an LLIF was about $45,574, which was not a significantly statistical difference than $44,068 median cost of a TLIF, he said.

Gandhoke noted the cumulative quality-adjusted life years was also similar between the two groups (0.67 for TLIF and 0.60 for LLIF; P = .331). – By Robert Linnehan

Reference:

Gandhoke GS, et al. Paper #145. Presented at: Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting; Sept. 26-30, 2015; New Orleans.

Disclosure: Gandhoke reports no relevant financial disclosures.