Trends in Medical Costs for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Surgery in Japan

STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective review of clinical data and costs was performed for surgeries for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) conducted from 2008 to 2017. OBJECTIVE: Cost containment and healthcare value have become focal points in Japanese health care policy. The purpose of the study was to investigate trends over time in medical costs for surgery for AIS. METHODS: A total of 83 patients underwent surgery for AIS from 2008 to 2017 at our hospital. Clinical data and length of stay were collected, and medical costs for surgery, local bone grafting, fees per day, and surgical instruments were evaluated. RESULTS: There were slight year-by-year decreases in fees per day and decreases in costs of surgical instruments. The average length of stay was 16.4 days and gradually decreased over time. In contrast, scoliosis surgery costs increased about 1.6 times in 10 years from $9515 to $15 130. CONCLUSION: The trends for decreases in fees per day and prices for surgical instruments reflect recent government medical cost control policies. The cost for scoliosis surgery is also defined by the government, and the increase over 10 years may reflect the perspective of valuing effective and advanced surgeries. This study of cost trends of operative spinal intervention provides an assessment of surgical benefit and is likely to influence health care costs.