Intercostal nerve cryoablation is associated with lower hospital cost during minimally invasive Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum.

UNLABELLED: Minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum (Nuss procedure) is associated with significant pain, and efforts to control pain impact resource utilization. Bilateral thoracic intercostal nerve cryoablation has been proposed as a novel technique to improve post-operative pain control, though the impact on hospital cost is unknown.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study of patients undergoing a Nuss procedure from 2016 to 2019. Patients who received cryoablation were compared to those that received traditional pain control (patient-controlled analgesia or epidural). Outcome variables included postoperative opioid usage (milligram morphine equivalents, MME), length of stay (LOS), and hospital cost.

RESULTS

Thirty-five of 73 patients studied (48%) received intercostal nerve cryoablation. LOS (1.0 vs 4.0 days, p < 0.01) and total hospital cost ($21,924 versus $23,694, p = 0.04) were decreased in the cryoablation cohort, despite longer operative time (152 vs 74 min, p < 0.01). Cryoablation was associated with decreased opioid usage (15.0 versus 148.6 MME, p < 0.01) during the 24 h following surgery and this persisted over the entire postoperative period, including discharge opioid prescription (112.5 vs 300.0 MME, p < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Bilateral intercostal nerve cryoablation is associated with decreased postoperative opioid usage and decreased resource utilization in pediatric patients undergoing a minimally invasive Nuss procedure for pectus excavatum.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Retrospective comparative study, level III.