Objective:

Evaluate the cost of simultaneous bilateral phacoemulsification cataract surgery vs. sequential bilateral phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation.

Methods:

An analytic economic evaluation was conducted of 762 patients aged over 50 years undergoing simultaneous bilateral phacoemulsification cataract surgery and 762 patients undergoing sequential bilateral phacoemulsification cataract surgery at Ramón Pando Ferrer Cuban Institute of Ophthalmology in the period 2014-2019. Evaluation was performed of costs incurred on human resources and materials, indirect costs, and total costs for the two groups after surgery, starting from the scientific certainty that both procedures are equally effective.

Results:

The 61-80 years age group and female sex (75 %) prevailed in both groups. Human resources unit costs decreased 1.69 CUP in group I, whereas material resources total and unit costs were similar in both groups. Indirect unit costs decreased 3.63 CUP in group I. Total unit cost was 6.19 CUP lower in the simultaneous bilateral surgery group than in the sequential bilateral surgery group.

Conclusions:

Simultaneous bilateral phacoemulsification cataract surgery is more cost-effective than sequential bilateral phacoemulsification.

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