Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:43:26.313Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cost-Effectiveness of Perioperative Mupirocin Nasal Ointment in Cardiothoracic Surgery

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Marjolein F.Q. VandenBergh
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Jan A.J.W. Kluytmans*
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Ben A. van Hout
Affiliation:
University Hospital, Rotterdam, and the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Alexander P.W.M. Maat
Affiliation:
Department of Thoracic Surgery, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Rob J. Seerden
Affiliation:
University Hospital, Rotterdam, and the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Joseph McDonnel
Affiliation:
University Hospital, Rotterdam, and the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Henri A. Verbrugh
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
*
Department of Clinical Microbiology, Ignatius Hospital, PO Box 90158, 4800 RK, Breda, The Netherlands

Abstract

Objective:

To assess the cost-effectiveness of perioperative intranasal application of mupirocin calcium ointment in cardiothoracic surgery.

Design:

Cost-effectiveness analysis based on results of an intervention study with historical controls.

Setting:

University Hospital Rotterdam, a tertiary referral center for cardiac and pulmonary surgery.

Patients:

Consecutive patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery between August 1, 1989, and February 1, 1991 (control group, n=928), and between March 1, 1991, and August 1, 1992 (intervention group, n=868).

Intervention:

Perioperative nasal application of mupirocin calcium ointment started on the day before surgery, continued for 5 days, twice daily.

Results:

Postoperative costs were increased significantly in patients with a surgical-site infection (SSI), compared with uninfected patients (P<.001). Mean SSI-attributable costs were estimated at $16,878 (95% confidence interval, $15,575-$18,181). The incidence of SSIs was 7.3% in the control group and 2.8% in the intervention group, mupirocin effectiveness being 62%. The costs of mupirocin were $11 per patient. Thus, the savings per SSI prevented were $16,633. To validate this comparative estimate of SSI-attributable costs, a noncomparative analysis of the postoperative length of stay (POLS) was performed, according to the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol. Approximately 50% of the comparative SSI-attributable POLS were judged SSI-attributable in the noncomparative analysis. Sensitivity analyses, testing for the robustness of our conclusions, indicated that the presented model is rather insensitive to variations in the incidence of SSIs and for the effectiveness and costs of mupirocin. SSI-attributable costs were shown to be the only variable with substantial effect on the cost-effectiveness ratio. Perioperative mupirocin would result in net costs instead of savings only if SSI-attributable costs were less than $245.

Conclusions:

SSIs in patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery are associated with a substantial increase in postoperative costs. Provided that perioperative mupirocin reduces the SSI rate, this measure will be highly cost-effective in most centers providing cardiothoracic surgical services.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Boyce, JM, Potter-Bynoe, G, Dziobek, L. Hospital reimbursement patterns among patients with surgical wound infections following open heart surgery. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1990;11:8993.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Clarke, SKR. Sepsis in surgical wounds with particular reference to Staphylococcus aureus . Br J Surg 1957;44:592596.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Doebbeling, BN, Pfaller, MA, Kuhns, KR, Massanari, RM, Behrendt, DM, Wenzel, RP. Cardiovascular surgery prophylaxis. A randomized, controlled comparison of cefazolin and cefuroxime. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1990;99:981989.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Freeman, J, Rosner, BA, McGowan, JE Jr. Adverse effects of nosocomial infections. J Infect Dis 1979;140:732740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Green, JW, Wenzel, RP. Postoperative wound infection: a controlled study of the increased duration of hospital stay and direct cost of hospitalization. Ann Surg 1977;185:264268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6. Haley, RW, Schaberg, DR, Crossley, KB, von Allmen, SD, McGowan, JE Jr. Extra charges and prolongation of stay attributable to nosocomial infections: a prospective interhospital comparison. Am J Med 1981;70:5158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Kappstein, I, Schulgen, G, Fraedrich, G, Schlosser, V, Schumacher, M, Daschner, FD. Added hospital stay due to wound infections following cardiac surgery. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1992;40:148151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Kluytmans, JAJW, Mouton, JW, Maat, APWM, Manders, MAAJ, Michel, MF, Wagenvoort, JHT. Surveillance of postoperative infections in thoracic surgery. JHosp Infect 1994;27:139147.Google ScholarPubMed
9. Nelson, RM, Dries, DJ. The economic implications of infection in cardiac surgery. Ann Thorac Surg 1986;42:240246.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Rubinstein, E, Green, M, Modan, M, Amit, P. The effects of nosocomial infections on the length and costs of hospital stay. J Antimicrob Chemother 1982;9(suppl A):93100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11. Loop, FD, Lytle, BW, Cosgrove, DM, et al. Sternal wound complications after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting: early and late mortality, morbidity, and cost of care. Ann Thorac Surg 1990;49:179187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12. Calia, FM, Wolinsky, E, Mortimer, EA Jr, Abrams, JS, Rammelkamp, CH. Importance of the carrier state as a source of Staphylococcus aureus in wound sepsis. Journal of Hygiene, Cambridge 1969;67:4957.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13. Kluytmans, JAJW, Mouton, JW, Ijzerman, EPF, et al. Nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus as a major risk factor for wound infections after cardiac surgery. J Infect Dis 1995;171:216219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14. Weinstein, HJ. The relation between the nasal-staphylococcal-carrier state and the incidence of postoperative complications. N Engl J Med 1959;260:13031308.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15. Williams, REO, Jevons, MP, Shooter, RA, et al. Nasal staphylococci and sepsis in hospital patients. British Medical Journal 1959;11:658663.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16. Doebbeling, BN, Breneman, DL, Neu, HC, et al. Elimination of Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage in health care workers: analysis of six clinical trials with calcium mupirocin ointment. Clin Infect Dis 1993;17:466474.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Holton, DL, Nicolle, LE, Diley, D, Bernstein, K. Efficacy of mupirocin nasal ointment in eradicating Staphylococcus aureus nasal carriage in chronic hemodialysis patients. J Hosp Infect 1991;17:133137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Reagan, DR, Doebbeling, BN, Pfaller, MA, et al. Elimination of coincident Staphylococcus aureus nasal and handcarriage with intranasal application of mupirocin calcium ointment. Ann Intern Med 1991;114:101106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19. Kluytmans, JAJW, Mouton, JW, VandenBergh, MFQ, et al. Reduction of surgical-site infections in cardiothoracic surgery by elimination of nasal carriage of Staphylococcus aureus . Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1996;17:780785.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20. Garner, JS, Jarvis, WR, Grace Emori, T, Horan, TC, Hughes, JM. CDC definitions for nosocomial infections, 1988. Am J Infect Control 1988;16:128140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21. Gertman, PM, Restuccia, JD. The Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol: a technique for assessing unnecessary days of hospital care. Med Care 1981;19:855871.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22. Wong, ES. Surgical site infections. In: Mayhall, CG, ed. Hospital Epidemiology and Infection Control. Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins; 1996:154175.Google Scholar
23. Haley, WH, Schaberg, DR, Von Allmen, SD, McGowan, JE Jr. Estimating the extra charges and prolongation of hospitalization due to nosocomial infections: a comparison of methods. J Infect Dis 1980;141:248257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
24. Daschner, F. Cost-effectiveness on hospital infection control— lessons from the 1990s. J Hosp Infect 1989;13:325336.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25. Wakefield, DS, Pfaller, MA, Hammons, GT, Massanari, RM. Use of the appropriateness evaluation protocol for estimating the incremental costs associated with nosocomial infections. Med Care 1987;25:481488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
26. Freeman, J, McGowan, JE Jr. Methodological issues in hospital epidemiology, III: investigating the modifying effects of time and severity of underlying illness on estimates of cost of nosocomial infection. Reviews of Infectious Diseases 1984;6:285300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27. Green, MS, Rubinstein, E, Amit, P. Estimating the effects of nosocomial infections on the length of hospitalization. J Infect Dis 1982;145:667672.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28. Wakefield, DS, Pfaller, M, Ludke, RL, Wenzel, RP. Methods for estimating days of hospitalization due to nosocomial infections. Med Care 1992;30:373376.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29. McGowan, JE Jr. Cost and benefit in control of nosocomial infection: methods for analysis. Reviews of Infectious Diseases 1981:3:790797.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
30. Finkler, SA. The distinction between costs and charges. Ann Intern Med 1982;96:102109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
31. Kaiser, AB, Petracek, MR, Lea, JW, et al. Efficacy of cefazolin, cefamandole, and gentamicin as prophylactic agents in cardiac surgery. Ann Surg 1987;206:791797.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
32. Wakefield, DS, Helms, CM, Massanari, RM, Motomi, M, Pfaller, M. Cost of nosocomial infection: relative contribution of laboratory, antibiotic, and per diem costs in serious Staphylococcus aureus infections. Am J Infect Control 1988;16:185192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33. Restuccia, JD, Gertman, PM, Dayno, SJ, et al. A comparative analysis of appropriateness of hospital use. Health Aff 1984;3:130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
34. Rishpon, S, Lubacsh, S, Epstein, LM. Reliability of a method of determining the necessity for hospitalization days in Israel. Med Care 1986;24:279282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
35. Stevenson, RC, Blackmann, SC, Willimas, CL, Bartzokas, CA. Measuring the saving attributable to an antibiotic prescribing policy. J Hosp Infect 1988;11:1625.CrossRefGoogle Scholar