MENLO PARK, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ceterix® Orthopaedics, Inc., a developer of novel surgical tools that improve a surgeon’s ability to perform minimally invasive orthopaedic procedures, today announced the results of a health economics study related to meniscus surgery, the single most commonly-performed arthroscopic procedure in the United States. Findings of the study were presented at the 20th annual meeting of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), taking place through May 20 in Philadelphia, Pa.
“Most common medical therapies are cost-effective, meaning that there is an acceptable added expense for the given patient benefit,” said John McCutcheon, president and CEO of Ceterix Orthopaedics. “This study shows that meniscal repair actually saves money. This is an unexpected but very exciting finding. We are pleased that our NovoStitch® technology may contribute to reducing healthcare expenditures by enabling the treatment of complex injuries that have traditionally been difficult to repair.”
The analysis found an improvement in long-term patient outcomes at an overall discounted savings of $2,384, making meniscus repair the dominant index procedure strategy. While meniscus repair was associated with an increased relative risk of failure (RR of 4.37), it also led to substantial reductions in subsequent incidence of osteoarthritis and total knee replacement (29.7% vs. 39.4% and 19.6% vs. 27.9%, respectively). Clinical benefit and cost-effectiveness further improved with longer follow-up.
“These findings are important because more than one million meniscus procedures are performed annually, and there has been ongoing discussion in the clinical community regarding the relative benefits of repair vs. meniscectomy,” said Jan Pietzsch, Ph.D., president and CEO of health economics consultancy Wing Tech Inc., who presented the findings. Pietzsch is also a consulting associate professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, and a core faculty member in the Stanford Biodesign Program. “Our analysis, based on the latest clinical evidence, shows that meniscus repair, despite higher initial failure rates, is associated with improved long-term outcomes and overall cost savings relative to meniscectomy, making it the dominant treatment strategy from a health-economic perspective,” said Pietzsch.
The study, which was sponsored by Ceterix, was designed to assess the cost-effectiveness of meniscus repair compared to meniscectomy (partial or total surgical removal of the meniscus). Using a decision-analytic Markov disease progression model, researchers computed the 20-year incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and relative event risks in a hypothetical cohort of 38-year-old patients.
Ceterix’s NovoStitch suture passer, which is currently used by more than 300 U.S. physicians, allows orthopaedic surgeons to more easily address horizontal, radial, and other complex tears in ways not previously possible. The NovoStitch device enables the placement of a circumferential compression stitch around the meniscus, which is tightly surrounded by critical structures such as nerves, arteries and cartilage. This enables orthopaedic surgeons to treat complex injuries that have not been amenable to repair in the past. NovoStitch technology can also be utilized in minimally invasive hip and shoulder procedures.
