Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. – a commercial-stage medical technology company – announced results from a new study published in the Annals of Surgical Oncology that provide a comprehensive and up-to-date understanding of population-level reoperation rates and incremental healthcare costs associated with patients who require reoperations after undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCS). Researchers based at The University of Texas Health Science Center and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center concluded that more attention and continuing efforts should be made to reduce reoperation rates.
Dr. Anthony Lucci, professor of Breast Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center stated, “We conducted this retrospective study to better define and understand the impacts of reoperation rates on patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery and the related increase in costs. The results of our study demonstrate that high reoperation rates after breast-conserving surgery persist and are correlated with elevated risks and adverse outcomes for patients. I believe that these data underscore the need for new approaches to address high reoperation rates, including better methods of margin assessment for surgeons.”
The research team identified 17,129 commercially insured women ages 18-64 and 6,977 Medicare beneficiaries age 18 and older who had initial breast-conserving surgery between 2017 and 2019. The one-year follow-up revealed reoperation rates of 21.1% among commercially insured women and 14.9% among the Medicare cohort. These reoperations correlated with a 24% increase in costs for both the commercial and Medicare cohorts, translating into incremental expenses of $21,607 and $8,559, respectively. Furthermore, reoperations were linked to a 54% increased risk of complications in the commercial cohort and an 89% elevated risk in the Medicare cohort.
Adrian Mendes, Perimeter‘s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Our work strives to address the significant costs and negative patient outcomes due to reoperations. By providing innovative, intraoperative imaging technologies, our goal is that no patient has to go through the emotional and physical trauma of a second surgery due to cancer left behind.”
SOURCE: PRNewswire
