Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42374288›Full record

ArticleBMC ophthalmology2026

Payer-perspective direct medical costs during observed postoperative follow-up after gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy versus mitomycin-augmented trabeculectomy in Turkey.

Cansu Yuksel Elgin, Mustafa Asim Erol

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in BMC ophthalmology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Cansu Yuksel ElginDepartment of Ophthalmology, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Turkey. cansu.elgin@iuc.edu.tr.
Mustafa Asim ErolDepartment of Ophthalmology, Burdur State Hospital, Burdur, Turkey.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundGlaucoma surgery has payer-budget implications when postoperative medication and procedure use differ between care pathways. This study compared direct medical costs after gonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomy (GATT) and mitomycin-C-augmented trabeculectomy (MMC-trabeculectomy) from the Turkish Social Security Institution (SGK) payer perspective.

methodsThis single-centre retrospective cohort used patient-level chart, operating-room, and medication-cost data from sequentially reviewed surgery-naive adults with primary open-angle or pseudoexfoliation glaucoma who underwent GATT (n = 40) or MMC-trabeculectomy (n = 20). Surgical outcome was not an enrollment criterion. Costs were valued in 2025 Turkish Lira using SUT tariffs and the 11 June 2025 SGK drug price list. The primary base-case cost included the index glaucoma-surgery tariff, postoperative ophthalmology visits, dispensed glaucoma medications, and glaucoma-related non-routine postoperative procedures. Routine optical coherence tomography and visual-field testing were excluded from the primary surgical cost comparison and reported descriptively. Patient-level Gamma generalized linear models with log link estimated procedure-associated cost ratios.

resultsMean observed postoperative follow-up was 11.45 ± 8.28 months after GATT (range 2-30) and 13.85 ± 6.91 months after MMC-trabeculectomy (range 3-25). Mean primary base-case direct medical cost was 3188.6 ± 1955.9 TRY after GATT and 6835.8 ± 4674.5 TRY after MMC-trabeculectomy. Medication cost was the largest incremental driver (924.0 vs. 3305.7 TRY per patient), accounting for 65.3% of the mean difference. Glaucoma-related non-routine procedure costs were 0.0 TRY per GATT patient and 271.1 TRY per MMC-trabeculectomy patient. In the fully adjusted Gamma model, MMC-trabeculectomy was associated with higher mean primary base-case cost (cost ratio 2.01; 95% CI, 1.50-2.70).

conclusionsIn this Turkish SGK payer-perspective analysis, MMC-trabeculectomy was associated with higher observed direct medical costs than GATT during available postoperative follow-up. The findings are limited by the retrospective single-centre design, imbalanced groups, nonrandomized surgical selection, no propensity-score matching or inverse-probability weighting, and short follow-up for long-term durability. They should not be interpreted as a long-term cost-utility analysis or causal evidence of economic superiority.

trial registrationNot applicable.

Indexed as

Exfoliation SyndromeGlaucoma, Open-AngleGonioscopyHealth Care CostsMitomycinTrabeculectomyAgedAlkylating AgentsFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansIntraocular PressureMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesTurkeyAlkylating AgentsMitomycinCost analysisDirect medical costsGeneralized linear modelGlaucomaGonioscopy-assisted transluminal trabeculotomyPayer perspectiveTrabeculectomyTurkey

Identifiers

PMID42374288
PMCPMC13579887

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.