Cost-analysis of management strategies for children with vesico-ureteric reflux.

This study is an economic evaluation of three treatment strategies for vesico-ureteric reflux in children: neo-implantation; subureteric injection; and antibacterial prophylaxis. Cost-analysis was used to compare the strategies, implying that the differences in benefits between them were not measured. Direct and indirect costs are included, taking the analytical viewpoint of the community. For the surgical strategies, data from four different hospitals in Sweden were used, and for the prophylactic strategy, data was gathered through a survey of 31 hospitals. The treatment strategies were ranked in the following order (bilateral reflux in parentheses): (i) subureteric injection SEK 25,000-28,000 (26,000-36,000); (ii) antibacterial prophylaxis SEK 16,000-36,000; and (iii) neo-implantation SEK 65,000-90,000 (72,000-95,000).