Objective: To calculate the cost of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and to compare it with the costs determined in two previous Canadian studies.
Design: Retrospective cost-analysis study.
Setting: A tertiary care referral hospital.
Patients: Fifty patients who had undergone successful triple and quadruple CABG between Jan. 3 and 30, 1989.
Main results: The cost of CABG per patient varied from $10,982 to $33,676 (mean $14,328) (in 1988 Canadian dollars). The cost tended to increase with age and number of vessels grafted. Compared with the patients in the two previous Canadian studies our patients were older, had more vessels grafted and cost more to treat, even after the total hospital costs were adjusted for inflation.
Conclusions: The population undergoing CABG is changing: it is older and has more diseased vessels. These changes have had a significant impact on the cost of CABG. Further study is required to determine the outcome and benefit of CABG in this group of patients.