• Mikkel H Pedersen, Anne Danø, Ebbe Englev, Lisbeth Kattenhøj, and Emma Munk.
• EY Godkendt Revisionspartnerselskab, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
• Curr Med Res Opin. 2023 May 1; 39 (5): 691699691-699.

BackgroundSedation is common practice in endoscopic procedures to suppress a patient's level of consciousness while maintaining the cardio-respiratory function. Midazolam and propofol are the sedatives most frequently used for procedural sedation at hospitals in Scandinavia. Remimazolam is a new ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine sedative and the present analysis aimed at estimating the economic benefits of introducing remimazolam for procedural sedation in colonoscopies and bronchoscopies in hospitals in Scandinavia.MethodWe developed a cost model applying a micro-costing approach that comprised the cost components that are affected by differences in the efficacy of remimazolam, midazolam, and propofol, and the model estimated the cost per successful colonoscopy and bronchoscopy when using remimazolam, midazolam or propofol as sedation. A micro-costing approach was applied, and the model consisted of six stages representing the journey for patients undergoing endoscopies and was informed primarily by data from clinical studies on remimazolam.ResultsWe found a total cost of DKK 1200 per successful colonoscopy procedure when using remimazolam, a total cost of DKK 1320 when using midazolam, and a total cost of DKK 1255 when using propofol. Hence, the incremental saving per successful colonoscopy procedure of using remimazolam was estimated to be DKK 120 compared to midazolam and DKK 55 compared to propofol. The total cost per successful bronchoscopy procedure when using remimazolam was DKK 1353 and DKK 1724 for midazolam, resulting in an incremental saving per bronchoscopy of DKK 372 when using remimazolam. Performed sensitivity analyses identified the time in recovery as the largest contributor to uncertainty in the analyses of remimazolam compared to midazolam in colonoscopies and bronchoscopies. In the comparison of remimazolam and propofol in colonoscopies, procedure time was the largest contributor to uncertainty.ConclusionWe found that procedural sedation with remimazolam was associated with economically meaningful savings compared to procedural sedation with midazolam and propofol in colonoscopies and to midazolam in bronchoscopies.

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