A Cost Analysis of Healthcare Episodes Including Day-Case Bariatric Surgery (Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy) Versus Inpatient Surgery.

Background: Assessing the medico-economic outcomes of a healthcare pathway including day-case bariatric surgery versus the conventional pathway.

Methods: This economical evaluation is a prospective cohort study with historical controls. Between March 2019 and December 2020, 30 patients eligible for bariatric surgery were considered in the day-case group. Surgical procedures included sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. The day-case pathway included patient education, post-discharge follow-up by a community nurse twice-daily and standardized communications to surgeons. Day-case patients were paired with 30 inpatients, based on the type of intervention, age, and ASA status. The primary outcome was the cost of care episodes from the preoperative visit to the 30-day postoperative visit. Micro-costing methodology and activity-based costing were used. Secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay, rate of unanticipated events, and patient' satisfaction assessment.

Results: Male-to-female ratio was 1/2. In the day-case versus inpatient group, age, number of associated medical conditions, and BMI (42.9 ± 4.9 versus 42.6 ± 4.6, p > 0.05) were similar. In the day-case group, there were 7 overnight stays (23.3%), 3 readmissions (10%), and 4 unscheduled consultations (13.3%). The overall length of hospital stay was significantly shorter (0.65 ± 0.33, versus 2.9 ± 0.4 days, p < 0.0001). The complication rate was 6.6% in both groups. The cost of the care episode was € 4272.9 ± 589.7 for the day-case group versus € 4993.7 ± 695.6 for inpatients, corresponding to a 14.4% cost reduction (p = 0.0254).

Conclusions: Day-case bariatric surgery appears to be safe and beneficial in terms of costs. It involves a specific organization with postdischarge follow-up.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrial.gov: NCT04423575.