Obstructed Labor and Caesarean Delivery: The Cost and Benefit of Surgical Intervention

Background: Although advances in the reduction of maternal mortality have been made, up to 273,000 women will die this year from obstetric etiologies. Obstructed labor (OL), most commonly treated with Caesarean delivery, has been identified as a major contributor to global maternal morbidity and mortality. We used economic and epidemiological modeling to estimate the cost per disability-adjusted life-year (DALY) averted and benefit-cost ratio of treating OL with Caesarean delivery for 49 countries identified as providing an insufficient number of Caesarean deliveries to meet demand. Methods and Findings Using publicly available data and explicit economic assumptions, we estimated that the cost per DALY (3,0,0) averted for providing Caesarean delivery for OL ranged widely, from $251 per DALY averted in Madagascar to$3,462 in Oman. The median cost per DALY averted was $304. Benefit-cost ratios also varied, from 0.6 in Zimbabwe to 69.9 in Gabon. The median benefit-cost ratio calculated was 6.0. The main limitation of this study is an assumption that lack of surgical capacity is the main factor responsible for DALYs from OL. Conclusions: Using the World Health Organization's cost-effectiveness standards, investing in Caesarean delivery can be considered “highly cost-effective” for 48 of the 49 countries included in this study. Furthermore, in 46 of the 49 included countries, the benefit-cost ratio was greater than 1.0, implying that investment in Caesarean delivery is a viable economic proposition. While Caesarean delivery alone is not sufficient for combating OL, it is necessary, cost-effective by WHO standards, and ultimately economically favorable in the vast majority of countries included in this study

Multimodal Pain Management after Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty at the Ranawat Orthopaedic Center

Improvements in pain management techniques in the last decade have had a major impact on the practice of total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA and TKA). Although there are a number of treatment options for postoperative pain, a gold standard has not been established. However, there appears to be a shift towards multimodal approaches using regional anesthesia to minimize narcotic consumption and to avoid narcotic-related side effects. Over the last 10 years, we have used intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA), femoral nerve block (FNB), and continuous epidural infusions for 24 and 48 hours with and without FNB. Unfortunately, all of these techniques had shortcomings, not the least of which was suboptimal pain control and unwanted side effects. Our practice has currently evolved to using a multimodal protocol that emphasizes local periarticular injections while minimizing the use of parenteral narcotics. Multimodal protocols after THA and TKA have been a substantial advance; they provide better pain control and patient satisfaction, lower overall narcotic consumption, reduce hospital stay, and improve function while minimizing complications. Although no pain protocol is ideal, it is clear that patients should have optimum pain control after TKA and THA for enhanced satisfaction and function