Antiseizure medication (ASM) plus vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is associated with lower annual hospital costs over time for pediatric patients with refractory epilepsy compared with ASM alone, according to a study published in Epilepsia. Sandi K. Lam, MD, MBA, and colleagues compared hospital costs between pediatric patients treated with ASM only and ASM plus VNS. The analysis included 1,113 patients aged 0-17 who were diagnosed with refractory epilepsy during 2011-2016 and followed for 2 years. Among the ASM-only cohort, the adjusted all-cause costs increased by $14,715, and the epilepsy-related mean annual total costs increased by $18,437. For the ASM plus VNS cohort, increases were $12,838 and $15,183, respectively, yielding a cost savings of $3,254 for epilepsy-related annual costs per year after the index date, compared with ASM only. “Our study shows that VNS is a cost-beneficial treatment for a national cohort of pediatric patients with refractory epilepsy,” Dr. Lam and colleagues wrote.
