Cost-effectiveness of low-astigmatism correction with toric or spherical intraocular lenses combined with corneal incisions: an economic evaluation

Purpose: To assess the cost-effectiveness of the treatment of low corneal astigmatism (≤1.5 D) at the moment of the cataract surgery. Setting: (“Masked by journal requirement”) Design: Economic Evaluation. Methods: A decision tree was used to assess the cost-effectiveness of implanting spherical versus toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) or the spherical lens combined with the following corneal incisions: limbal relaxing incisions conducted manually (M-LRI) or assisted by femtosecond laser (F-LRI), arcuate keratotomies conducted manually (M-AK) or assisted by femtosecond (F-AK), and intrastromal arcuate keratotomies (F-iAK). Outcomes of cost were selected from a patient’s perspective considering the gross cost of each one of the surgeries at European centers, and the effectiveness variable was the probability of achieving a visual acuity of 20/20 after surgery. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the uncertainty considering the evidence retrieved from the transition probabilities of the model, the effectiveness, and the cost. Results: F-AK or Toric IOLs were the most effective treatments, increasing an 16% or 9%, respectively, in the percentage of eyes attaining 20/20 vision. The M-LRI, F-iAK, and F-LRI procedures were strongly dominated, while the M-AK and toric IOL were weakly dominated by the F-AK. A patient with low corneal astigmatism would need to be willing to pay 360€ [CI 95%: 231-1224] with F-AK and 472€ [CI 95%: 149-4490] with toric IOLs for a 10% increase in the probability of achieving 20/20 vision. Conclusions: From the patient’s perspective, F-AK was generally the most cost-effective treatment, even though toric IOLs can dominate in some countries.