Table 4.

Cost analysis

Item	Cost per item, £	Number of items required per patient (dependant on technique used)	Estimated total cost per 100 patients, £
Suction drain and bottle	4.73	2 (D)	946
2.0 vicryl	1.92	2 (FA)	384
Silk drain stitch	0.97	1 (D)	97
Single surgical bed/24 h	296	2.67 (D)	79,032 (D)
(1 bed day)		1.88 (FA)	55,648 (FA)
Total cost per 100 patients having routine drainage			80,075
Total cost per 100 patients having flaps anchored			56,032
Total saving achieved using flap anchoring technique per 100 patients			24,043

D = Routine drainage group, FA = flap anchoring group.