A cost comparison of rasburicase versus dialysis in the management of children with acute leukaemia and lymphoma at a South African centre

SA Journal of Oncology

 
 
Field Value
 
Title A cost comparison of rasburicase versus dialysis in the management of children with acute leukaemia and lymphoma at a South African centre
 
Creator Kahts, Morné F. Davidson, Alan van Eyssen, Ann Nourse, Peter McCulloch, Mignon Hendricks, Marc
 
Subject paediatrics; oncology; nephrology leukaemia; lymphoma; burkitts; t-cell; dialysis; rasburicase; allopurinol; nephrocalcinosis
Description Background: Tumour lysis syndrome is a common complication of haematological malignancies and has historically been managed with hyperhydration, urine alkalinisation and allopurinol with renal dialysis reserved for patients in acute renal failure. Rasburicase has been shown to drastically reduce the need for dialysis; however, its use is limited in developing countries owing to its cost and availability.Aim: This retrospective analysis aimed to compare the cost to state per patient of rasburicase compared to dialysis in the management and prevention of tumour lysis syndrome in paediatric patients presenting with haematological malignancies admitted to Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital (RCWMCH).Setting: Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.Methods: Patients from two consecutive 35 month periods, before and after the availability of rasburicase at RCWMCH, were grouped according to treatment modality, and the cumulative costs of hospitalisation, dialysis and drug administration were compared.Results: The groups were comparable in mean age and gender. The mean total length of hospital stay was 10.04 days shorter for the rasburicase group than the dialysis group with the average cost per patient in the rasburicase group being R40 989.64 lower than the dialysis group.Conclusion: The use of rasburicase results in a significant per patient cost saving when compared to dialysis, which often requires intensive care admission, and results in extended hospitalisation. The study supports the continued use of rasburicase as an essential adjunct in the management and prevention of tumour lysis syndrome, reaffirming its use as a cost-effective and efficient drug.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor None
Date 2018-10-29
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Retrospective Analysis
Format text/html application/epub+zip application/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajo.v2i0.50
 
Source South African Journal of Oncology; Vol 2 (2018); 7 pages 2523-0646 2518-8704
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajo.org.za/index.php/sajo/article/view/50/151 https://sajo.org.za/index.php/sajo/article/view/50/150 https://sajo.org.za/index.php/sajo/article/view/50/152 https://sajo.org.za/index.php/sajo/article/view/50/149
 
Coverage Africa; South Africa; Western Cape October 2011 - July 2017 age; gender
Rights Copyright (c) 2018 Morne Frank Kahts, Alan Davidson, Ann van Eyssen, Peter Nourse, Mignon McCulloch, Marc Hendricks https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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