Cost Effectiveness of Intrathecal Drug Therapy in Management of Chronic Nonmalignant Pain

Abstract

IDT is cost effective compared with CMM in the management of chronic noncancer pain.

Efficacy of a Targeted Drug Delivery on‐Demand Bolus Option for Chronic Pain

“…Lower systemic exposure to opioids results in clinically meaningful decreases in opioid‐related adverse effects . Numeric rating scale (NRS) pain scores decrease as a result of basal intrathecal therapy and functional outcomes improve in treated patients . TDD‐attributable healthcare cost savings are realized as soon as 3 to 6 months after treatment in subjects with cancer‐related pain, and as early as 11 to 28 months after treatment when considering non‐cancer‐related pain diagnoses .…”

“…TDD patients may now use a wireless device to administer physician‐prescribed boluses of intrathecal analgesics to treat incident pain or unpredictable fluctuations in daily pain . Unfortunately, a proportion of patients commence intrathecal therapy and remain on oral breakthrough opioids without elimination or reduction in their pre‐implantation dose or frequency . Maintaining both oral and intrathecal analgesics exposes patients to risks attributable to both routes of therapy, increases total analgesic costs, and decreases patient convenience.…”

Cost Impact of Intrathecal Polyanalgesia

“…The cost‐effectiveness of IDT, in comparison to CMM, is well documented . However, this is the first article to closely examine cost escalation associated with polyanalgesia.…”

“…We do not factor in the costs associated with hardware or complications (e.g., granuloma formation, infection, intrathecal catheter blockage/fractures). We have previously published a comprehensive cost‐effectiveness analysis .…”

“…IDT is also utilized to control spasticity which may occur with multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy (CP), stroke, brain injury, or spinal cord injury (SCI) . IDT is considered safe, effective, and cost‐efficient .…”