August 2025 Med Tech-related health technology assessments from the NIHR in England

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds valuable independent research for health and social care decision-makers in England. Reports from the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme are published in the NIHR HTA Journal and inform the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. 

In August 2025, three Med Tech-related assessments were published in the NIHR HTA Journal. The examples of evaluations are provided below:

• Medical management and intervention (using neurosurgical resection or stereotactic radiosurgery) versus medical management alone for symptomatic brain cavernoma, based on a prospective, randomized, open-label, assessor-blinded, parallel-group trial. The study's primary objective was to assess the feasibility of performing a definitive randomized trial addressing the top priority. Barriers to recruitment included usual-care practices and logistical issues with stereotactic radiosurgery. In contrast, facilitators were the neurosurgeons’ preparedness to offer intervention to more people than in usual care, multidisciplinary team equipoise, and presenting the study as a solution to equipoise. The pilot randomized trial identified facilitators and barriers to recruitment, exceeded its recruitment target, and met some feasibility metrics.
• Clinical and cost-effectiveness of percutaneous nephrolithotomy, flexible ureterorenoscopy, and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy for lower pole stones based on two multicenter, open-label, superiority randomized controlled trials. It was concluded that shockwave lithotripsy was more cost-effective than flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment, with no meaningful difference in patient health status, even though flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment had higher complete stone-free rates. In the second randomized clinical trial, keyhole surgery was more cost-effective than flexible ureteroscopic stone treatment on a micro-costing basis, which better reflects treatment cost differences to the NHS. Keyhole surgery was marginally beneficial for health status, with higher complete stone-free rates.

Another assessment published in August 2025 concerned glycemic control in labor with diabetes.

See the full details here.

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