OBJECTIVES : To analyze the medical cost for infantile hemangiomas of children in southeastern China.

METHODS : A retrospective observational approach was conducted by using medical record data from the Foshan Women and Children Hospital, southeastern China, ranging from June 2014 to June 2019. Patients were divided into high-risk group, medium-risk group, and low-risk group.

RESULTS : A total of 2,427 valid samples were included into final analysis. The mean of medical cost for the overall patients was 3,699±78,554 CNY. The mean of medical cost for three risk groups was 2,586±4,352 CNY (high-risk group), 2,500±3,464 CNY (medium-risk group), and 4,605±10,4981 CNY (low-risk group), while no significant difference among three groups (P = 0.815). Regarding the medical cost of single laser treatment, there was significant differences among three groups (P = 0.000), as 2,761.5±2,714.5 CNY (high-risk group), 223.5±1,841.8 (medium-risk group), and 2,058.3±1,565.3 CNY (low-risk group). For the medical cost of single treatment with topical timolol maleate, there was no significant difference among three groups (P = 0.448), as 204.8±286.9 CNY (high-risk group), 181.8±154.2 (medium-risk group), and 172.7±126.6 (low-risk group). Regarding the medical cost of combination treatment of laser therapy and topical timolol maleate, they were 4,298.8±2,446.5 CNY (high-risk group), 4,424.5±4,227.2 (medium-risk group), and 17,884.5±23,8346.9 (low-risk group), with no significant difference among three groups (P = 0.759).

CONCLUSIONS : The medical cost of infantile hemangiomas in children located in southeastern China was considerable. Treatment guideline for infantile hemangiomas needs to be developed by combing clinical characteristics and economic evaluation of treatment patterns.