Economic Aspects of Neurosurgery

摘要: Critics of modern medicine who suspect that some its activities do more harm than good, and even avowed benefits may not be worth the cost, usually focus on various types high technology medicine1. Surgery is both oldest most widely practised example a potentially hazardous often expensive technological intervention offered to patients improve their prospects good outcome. Within surgery procedures specialties are supposed others limited benefit or unusually costly. Examples include for major congenital malformations in infancy advanced cancer, transplantation heart, liver lung, plastic neurosurgery. Debate about ethics economics now agenda all westernised countries. This because it increasingly realized rationing health care inevitable affluent societies. As result, equity distribution resources recognized as an important principle medical ethics2. Two other principles, non-maleficence (not doing patients) respecting patient autonomy, indicate use technologies sometimes inappropriate when issue. We consider here contribution economic principles can make this debate, dealing first with general then neurosurgery, which recent studies provide practical examples.