Hospitals were paid on average $9,093 more for open procedures compared to minimally invasive approaches. Hospital costs for blood, imaging, implants, lab tests, pharmacy, therapy, room and board and surgical services were $19,224 for minimally invasive surgery and $23,550 for the open procedure. Total costs for the minimally invasive approach were $27,321 and for the open approach $33,321. Hospital payments for the minimally invasive surgery averaged $38,090 and for the open approach $47,182.

Two spine surgeons from Rush — Kern Singh, MD, and Frank Phillips, MD, — worked alongside medical students and a research coordinator to compare the costs associated with open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion in 33 patients to the costs associated with using minimally invasive surgery in the same number of patients between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2010 at Rush University Medical Center.

The study was presented at the International Society of the Advancement of Spine Surgery's 2012 annual meeting in Barcelona, Spain.

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