Cost-effectiveness Evaluation of Robotic Surgery, Compared to Thoracoscopic and Open Surgery, in the Removal of Lung Lesions Based on "Real-world" Efficacy and Cost Data From the ATS of Milan

Brief Summary

Detailed Description

Single multicenter retrospective observational study with Real World Evidence (RWE) approach, i.e. an evaluation that uses real-world data (RWD) derived from healthcare flows of the ATS of Milan and data provided by participating centers on the basis of medical records/ clinical databases, both as regards the analysis of efficacy and safety and as regards the economic evaluation of direct costs. For the analysis of quality of life and the calculation of QALYs (quality-adjusted life years), validated questionnaires will be prospectively administered to the participating subjects. The Epidemiology Unit of the ATS of Milan is the study promoter and it will coordinate the collection of data and will carry out the statistical and economic analyses. Other participating centers will be the thoracic surgeries of the ATS hospitals, which carried out in 2019 (last pre-pandemic COVID-19 year) at least 50 lung operations. As for the retrospective part of the study, both for the evaluation of clinical efficacy and of costs, the investigators will include all adult subjects (age equal or over 18 years of age at the time of surgery) residents in the ATS of Milan, who were hospitalized between 01/01/2016 and 31/12/2021 for pulmonary surgery (operation codes in any position of the hospital discharge summary form (SDO-Scheda di Dimissione Ospedaliera) and whose hospitalization is present in the SDO database of the ATS of Milan in one of the participating centers. For the evaluation of cost-effectiveness in malignant tumors, subjects with metastases at diagnosis will be excluded. As for the prospective part of the study, all subjects who will undergo lung surgery during 2023 at the participating centers and will give their consent to participate in the study by signing the informed consent form at the pre-hospitalization or at hospitalization before surgery will be eligible to be enrolled. To evaluate the quality of life PROMs related, the investigators will use the generic questionnaire EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D-5L) and the specific European Organization for Researchand Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Lung Cancer (EORCT QLQ-LC29), which are available and validated in Italian. The pre-intervention questionnaire will be completed on paper during hospitalization before the intervention or at pre-admission and the data will be entered into the web application of the ATS of Milan by dedicated staff. The subsequent questionnaires at day 7 and 30 can be self-completed by patients or electronically, using the dedicated web application of the ATS of Milan or in paper form, by filling in the documents issued on discharge for this purpose The cost-effectiveness evaluation will be conducted according to the CHEERS (Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards) guidelines.

Primary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes

• Incremental Cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of robotic surgery for the treatment of benign lung lesions(The time horizon of the evaluation will be limited to 5 years from the intervention and the purchase of the technology.)