Cost effectiveness of diagnostic laparoscopy in reproductive aged females suffering from non-specific acute low abdominal pain

objective: to compare the costs and effectiveness of early laparoscopy with those of conventional diagnostic methods based on clinical and paraclinical observation and diagnostic images for ascertaining the cause of non-specific acute low abdominal pain (nsalap) in females of reproductive age from the third-party payers' (tpp) point of view. methods: population: 110 reproductive aged females suffering from nsalap. place: instituto materno infantil, perinatal and maternal attention referral hospital in bogotá, colombia. research design: cost-effectiveness study of a controlled clinical trial carried out in 1998 and 1999. outcomes to be measured: effectiveness, direct medical costs (in colombian pesos and their equivalent in us dollars (usd-december 2004) from length of hospital stay, diagnostic procedures carried out, medical visits and managing complications. analysis: cost-effectiveness incremental ratio, analysing sensitivity in five different scenarios. results: early diagnostic laparoscopy was more cost-effective in 4 out of the 5 possible scenarios. savings varying from $21.875 to $69.834 (usd 9.42 and usd 30.1) were made per unit of increased effectiveness. conclusion: early diagnostic laparoscopy was cost-effective in 4 out of 5 scenarios dealing with managing nsalap in reproductive aged females.