ArticleBMC health services research2011
Cost-minimization analysis of the direct costs of TPE and IVIg in the treatment of Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Article in BMC health services research, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- A narrative review of the economic burden of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease and analogous conditions.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of intravenous immunoglobulin retreatment amongst Guillain-Barré syndrome patients who poorly responded to initial IVIG cycle: a systematic review.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2024Pooled it
- Guillain-Barré syndrome in Colombia: where do we stand now?Immunologic research · 2017Pooled it
- Intravenous immunoglobulin for Guillain-Barré syndrome.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Guillain-Barré syndrome following Plasmodium falciparum malaria in a child: a case report.Malaria journal · 2026Article
- Acthar Gel versus standard of care for adults with proteinuria in nephrotic syndrome due to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: cost-per-response analysis from the US healthcare perspective.Journal of comparative effectiveness research · 2026Article
- Therapeutic plasma exchange in critically ill patients in low-income and lower-middle-income countries: medical need and feasibility.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Effect of Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG) Supplementation on infection-free survival in recipients of BCMA-directed bispecific antibody therapy for multiple myeloma.Blood cancer journal · 2025Article
- Cost per Response of Acthar® Gel vs Standard of Care for the Treatment of Proteinuria in Nephrotic Syndrome Due to Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy Among Adults from the US Healthcare Perspective.Journal of health economics and outcomes research · 2025Article
- Characteristics and outcomes of patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome who were admitted to the intensive care unit: a retrospective observational study.The Journal of international medical research · 2024Observational
- Review
- Visual Outcomes Following Plasma Exchange for Optic Neuritis: An International Multicenter Retrospective Analysis of 395 Optic Neuritis Attacks.American journal of ophthalmology · 2023Article
- Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in Certain Immune-Mediated Neurological Disorders: Focus on a Novel Nanomembrane-Based Technology.Biomedicines · 2023Review
- Using a scenario approach to assess for the current and future demand of immunoglobulins: An interview and literature study from The Netherlands.Transfusion medicine (Oxford, England) · 2022Review
- Cost-minimisation analysis of plasma exchange versus IVIg in the treatment of autoimmune neurological conditions.BMC health services research · 2022Article
- Plasma exchange for severe immune-related adverse events from checkpoint inhibitors: an early window of opportunity?Immunotherapy advances · 2022Review
- Colistin neurotoxicity mimicking Guillain-Barré syndrome in a patient with cystic fibrosis: case report and review.Oxford medical case reports · 2021Article
- Getting around the gut: a unique management challenge of thyroid storm precipitated by amphetamine-associated duodenal ischaemia leading to compromised enteric absorption.BMJ case reports · 2021Article
- Antibodies against vaccine-preventable infections after CAR-T cell therapy for B cell malignancies.JCI insight · 2021Article
- Therapeutic plasma exchange as a first-choice therapy for axonal Guillain-Barré syndrome: A case-based review of the literature (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundControlled trials have found therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) and intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) infusion therapy to be equally efficacious in treating Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Due to increases in the price of IVIg compared to human serum albumin (HSA), used as a replacement fluid in TPE, we examined direct hospital-level expenditures for TPE and IVIg for meaningful cost-differences between these treatments.
methodsUsing financial data from our two institutions, hospital cost profiles for IVIg and 5% albumin were established. Reimbursement amounts were obtained from publicly available Medicare data resources to determine payment rates for TPE, non-tunneled central catheter line placement, and drug infusion therapy. A model was developed which allows hospitals to input cost and reimbursement amounts for both IVIg and TPE with HSA that results in real-time valuations of these interventions.
resultsThe direct cost of five IVIg infusion sessions totaling 2.0 grams per kilogram (g/kg) body weight was $10,329.85 compared to a series of five TPE procedures, which had direct costs of $4,638.16.
conclusionsIn GBS patients, direct costs of IVIg therapy are more than twice that of TPE. Given equivalent efficacy and similar severity and frequencies of adverse events, TPE appears to be a less expensive first-line therapy option for treatment of patients with GBS.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.