Implementing opportunistic salpingectomy would lead to health care cost savings
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Feb. 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Opportunistic salpingectomy (OS) during any suitable abdominal surgery is effective for reducing the incidence of ovarian cancer and could reduce health care costs, according to a study published online Jan. 30 in PLOS Medicine.
Angela Kather, from the University Hospital Jena in Germany, and colleagues examined the clinical and economic potential of OS at gynecologic and abdominal surgeries. For women aged 20 to 85 years, outcomes were simulated over annual cycles with 1,200,000 individuals. Four strategies were compared: (I) OS at any suitable abdominal surgery, (II) OS only at any suitable gynecologic surgery, (III) OS only at hysterectomy or sterilization, and (IV) no implementation of OS.
The researchers found that compared with strategy IV, ovarian cancer cases were reduced by 15.34, 9.78, and 5.48 percent in strategies I, II, and III, respectively. Setting costs for OS to €216.19, implementation of OS would lead to health care cost savings, indicated by incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of €−8,685.50, −8,270.55, and −4,511.86/quality-adjusted life year gained for strategies I, II, and III, respectively. The results were stable over a wide range of input parameters, with strategy I superior in most simulations. The critical factor for effectiveness was the extent of cancer risk reduction after OS. Preventable ovarian cancer cases decreased to 4.07, 1.90, and 0.37 percent for strategies I, II, and III versus IV if cancer risk reduction would be <27 percent.
“Expanding opportunities for OS to a broader range of abdominal interventions beyond already widely accepted hysterectomy and sterilization procedures substantially increased clinical effectiveness and economic robustness,” the authors write.
Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
