Costs of treating cataract surgery complications from a US provider perspective: a micro-costing approach for health economic analyses

Health economic analyses of novel technologies are useful for purchasing decisions and should consider adverse events if technologies demonstrate an improvement in safety. However, the costs associated with cataract surgery complications from a healthcare provider perspective are not well documented in the literature. This review discusses several cataract surgery complications that can potentially be impacted by novel technologies including posterior capsule rupture (PCR), corneal burn, cystoid macular edema (CME), corneal edema, and elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Limitations of databases to identify these costs from a healthcare provider perspective are discussed. Estimates of the healthcare resources utilized for treating these cataract surgery complications and associated costs are presented, derived from discussions with an expert panel and published literature, where available. There is a current gap in the literature with respect to the costs of cataract surgery complications to US healthcare providers. Estimates from this paper can provide insight into complications and associated costs that could be considered in future economic analyses of technologies designed to reduce cataract surgery complications. Those results in turn can inform healthcare resource planning and allocation decisions.