{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.025792584631918324, 'fraction_numerical': 0.025792584631918324, 'mean_word_length': 5.006451612903226, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 1, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Direct Cost Analysis of Patients With Brain Tumors Submitted to Microsurgical Neurosurgical Procedures - An Epidemiological and Economic Analysis in a Large Developing Country


 Purpose

In low- and middle-income countries, there is a lack of data on neurosurgical costs. These data are relevant to help international cooperation, especially for huge trials. This study aims to estimate the direct cost of an adult neurooncological patient during hospital admission in the largest philanthropic hospital in Latin America.
Methods

This observational economic analysis describes the direct cost of a neurooncological patient at Santa Casa de São Paulo, Brazil. For this analysis, only adult patients with the two more common primary brain tumors were considered.
Results

 Between January 2008 and December 2019 a total of 1279 charts were reviewed. 53.57% were female patients. Most patients had an age range between 56 and 65 years (22.5%). A statistically significant sample of patients with meningiomas and gliomas were analyzed. The estimated mean cost of neurosurgical hospitalization was U$ 4.166. The operating room and ICU costs represented the largest proportion of the total cost (29.24% and 24.95%, respectively). 17.5% of patients had some types of infection and 66.67% them occurred in nonelective procedures. The mortality rate was 12.7% and 92.3% occurred in emergency procedures.
Conclusions

This study evaluated the cost of oncological neurosurgical patients. The operating room was the most expensive variable, followed by the ICU hospitalization period. Surgery performed in an emergency was more associated with infections and mortality. Findings from this study could be used by stakeholders and policymakers for resource allocation and to perform economic analyses to establish the value of neurosurgery in achieving global health goals.