Cost impact of hydroxocobalamin in the treatment of patients with known or suspected cyanide poisoning due to smoke inhalation from closed-space fires

Economic Model of Uridine Triacetate Versus Supportive Care for the Treatment of Patients with Life-Threatening Early-Onset Severe Toxicity

BACKGROUND

Early-onset severe toxicity following the administration of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or capecitabine occurs in approximately 10-30% of patients receiving fluoropyrimidine therapy in the USA and is fatal to at least 0.5% of patients treated. Supportive care measures used to manage symptoms of toxicity are associated with extended hospital length of stay, high cost of care, and poor survival. Uridine triacetate is indicated as an emergency treatment for patients who exhibit early-onset, severe or life-threatening toxicity, and has been shown to significantly improve clinical outcomes. Despite its life-saving capability to reverse early-onset severe toxicity, uridine triacetate may be underutilized.

PURPOSE

This study aims to evaluate the economic impact of uridine triacetate as a rescue therapy for adult patients from the US hospital payer perspective for early-onset severe toxicity, who are expected to die without treatment.

METHODS

A decision tree model was developed to compare inpatient survival, hospital length of stay, and inpatient healthcare resource utilization for patients treated with and without uridine triacetate. Costs associated with hospitalization, including supportive care measures and monitoring were evaluated, considering medications and procedures commonly used to manage various severe toxicities experienced (e.g., gastrointestinal, hematological, etc.). The model compared the hypothetical current practice, in which approximately half of patients expected to die from early-onset severe toxicity receive uridine triacetate in addition to supportive care, with the proposed future practice in which all eligible patients receive uridine triacetate during their hospital stay. Hypothetical practical scenarios for US institutions were also considered.

RESULTS

For each adult patient hospitalized for early-onset severe or life-threatening toxicity who would be expected to die without treatment, adoption of uridine triacetate as a rescue treatment was associated with clinical benefits, including increased inpatient survival (48.5%) and a 7.3-day reduction in total hospital length of stay per patient. Treatment of each additional patient with uridine triacetate was associated with an incremental cost of US$25,247 per patient. Seventy percent of the drug cost was offset by reduction in inpatient healthcare resources utilization. This cost offset is likely underestimated as it does not include additional savings from potential reimbursements associated with changes in hospital length of stay, readmissions and discounting. Hypothetical scenarios demonstrated that model outputs were most sensitive to changes in length of stay and hospitalization costs.

CONCLUSION

Optimal treatment with uridine triacetate for all hospitalized patients in the USA expected to die from early-onset severe toxicity has the potential to improve inpatient survival at a minimal inpatient budget increase. The majority of the drug cost is offset by a reduction in the length of hospital stay and associated costs.

Inhalation Injury, Respiratory Failure, and Ventilator Support in Acute Burn Care

Sustaining an inhalation injury increases the risk of severe complications and mortality. Current evidential support to guide treatment of the injury or subsequent complications is lacking, as studies either exclude inhalation injury or design limit inferences that can be made. Conventional ventilator modes are most commonly used, but there is no consensus on optimal strategies. Settings should be customized to patient tolerance and response. Data for pharmacotherapy adjunctive treatments are limited.

Glucarpidase for Treating Adults with Delayed Methotrexate Elimination Due to Impaired Renal Function: An Economic Simulation Analysis

Background

Glucarpidase is indicated for treating delayed methotrexate (MTX) elimination due to impaired renal function. Although glucarpidase is capable of rapidly eliminating MTX independent of renal clearance, its cost can be perceived as a barrier to use. However, no published economic analyses have evaluated glucarpidase relative to comparable treatments.

Purpose

To assess the economic value of glucarpidase for treating adult patients in the United States (US) who experience delayed MTX elimination due to impaired renal function.

Methods

A decision tree model was developed to assess the economic value of glucarpidase. The short-term inpatient management of patients as well as long-term survival were simulated. Costs associated with the use of glucarpidase were compared against other methods for treating delayed MTX elimination due to impaired renal function under two scenarios: current practice (ie, mix of timely/delayed use of glucarpidase, hemodialysis, or supportive care [SC] alone) as compared with proposed practice (ie, timely glucarpidase administration within 60 hours for all eligible patients). Hypothetical practical scenarios for US institutions were also considered.

Results

For adult patients with delayed MTX elimination, proposed practice as compared to current practice was associated with an increased cost of $20,024 per patient, not considering any incremental reimbursement associated with glucarpidase administration. Importantly, early treatment with glucarpidase, within 60 hours, was shown to be less expensive per patient than delayed glucarpidase treatment or treating with hemodialysis, but more expensive than SC alone. However, proposed practice was associated with multiple clinical benefits, including shorter hospital length of stay. For hypothetical practical scenarios, minimal shifts in treatment patterns had minimal cost impacts.

Conclusion

Treatment of all eligible patients with glucarpidase within 60 hours was associated with an increased cost per patient (relative to current practice) but substantial improvements in clinical outcomes. Timely glucarpidase use was less expensive than delayed glucarpidase or hemodialysis.

Inhalation injury after a landmine explosion: a case report

Blast injuries are divided into four classes, and inhalation injuries are a quaternary class of blast injuries. An inhalation injury can be critical to the patient due to the possibility of related complications, such as airway obstruction resulting from upper airway edema and pneumonia. Once diagnosed, an inhalation injury should be treated with early intubation, aerosol therapy, and antibiotics as soon as possible. We should suspect this injury in circumstances involving fire and especially bomb attacks in a military setting. Antipersonnel landmines designed to damage the soldier by amputating the leg can cause blast injuries, but their power is limited to the lower extremity. However, we found an inhalation injury in a victim whose leg had been amputated by an antipersonnel landmine. As soon as we suspected an inhalation injury, we intubated the patient to preserve his airway and started acetylcysteine/heparin aerosol therapy. The patient also was treated with proper antibiotics for right lower lung pneumonia that developed as a sequela of inhalation injury. We could extubate the patient without any complications such as airway obstruction on the third day of intensive care, after which the patient was transferred to the general ward for active rehabilitation. This report presents the first known case of inhalation injury due to a landmine explosion.