Use of a saline-coupled bipolar sealer open liver resection for hepatic malignancy: Medical resource use and costs

Table 4 Length of stay, deviation mix and weighted average mean cost (propensity-matched cohorts)

Characteristic	SCBS	No SCBS	P value
Length of stay (LOS), d
mean (SD)	7.38 (5.18)	8.18 (7.27)	0.210
25th percentile	4	4
Median	6	6
75th percentile	8	8
Deviation mix, n (%)
On course	77 (53.5)	302 (41.9)	0.013
Minor deviation	30 (20.8)	187 (26.0)	0.208
Moderate deviation	28 (19.4)	150 (20.8)	0.821
Major deviation	9 (6.3)	81 (11.3)	0.074
mean (SD) total hospital cost
On course	18000 (5746)	16813 (6588)	0.029
Minor deviation	28379 (14863)	25452 (11186)	0.454
Moderate deviation	36558 (17777)	35261 (19390)	0.571
Major deviation	45717 (19045)	49082 (35303)	0.568
WAMC total hospitalization cost	$25503	$26530
WAMC difference	$1027

P values were calculated with the Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney test for LOS and total hospitalization cost; and the χ² test for hospital deviation mix classes. SCBS: Saline-coupled bipolar sealer; WAMC: Weighted average mean cost.