Is robotic mitral valve surgery more expensive than its conventional counterpart?

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was 'Is robotic mitral valve surgery more expensive than its conventional counterpart?' Altogether 19 papers were found using the reported search, of which 5 represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers are tabulated. There is a general impression in the surgical community that robotic operations might incur prohibitive additional costs. There is a paucity of data in the literature regarding cost analysis in cardiac robotic surgery. From the five studies, four were single institution experiences and one was a database inquiry study. These four studies showed that operational costs are higher for robotic cases but this was partially (one study) or completely (three studies) offset by lower postoperative costs. Overall hospital costs were similar between the two approaches in three studies and one study showed higher costs in the robotic group. Higher operating theatre (OT) costs were driven mainly by use of robotic instruments (approximately US$1500 per case) and longer OT times. Savings in postoperative care were driven by shorter length of hospital stay (on average 2 days fewer in robotic cases) and lower morbidity. If amortization cost, that is, the value of the initial capital investment on the robotic system divided by all operations performed, is included in this analysis, robotic approach becomes significantly more expensive by approximately US$3400 per case. The fifth study was a large national database inquiry in which robotic approach was found to be more expensive by US$600 per case excluding amortization cost and by US$3700 if amortization is included. We conclude that the total hospital cost of robotic mitral valve surgery is slightly higher than conventional sternotomy surgery. If amortization is taken into consideration, robotic cases are considerably more expensive.