Potential cost-effectiveness of using a collagen-containing dressing in managing diabetic foot ulcers in the UK.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate whether a collagen-containing dressing could potentially afford the UK's National Health Service (NHS) a cost-effective intervention for the management of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs).


METHOD
A decision model depicting the management of a DFU was constructed and populated with a combination of published clinical outcomes, resource use estimates and utilities for DFUs. The model estimated the incremental cost-effectiveness of a collagen-containing dressing plus standard care compared with standard care alone over a period of four months in terms of the incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained.


RESULTS
Treatment of DFUs of >6 months duration with a collagen-containing dressing plus standard care instead of standard care alone is expected to increase the probability of healing from 0.08 to 0.53 by four months and increase health-related quality of life at four months from 0.156 to 0.163 QALYs per patient. Additionally, treatment with a collagen-containing dressing has the potential to reduce management costs by 22% over four months when compared with standard care alone (from £2897 to £2255 per patient). Treatment of new DFUs with a collagen-containing dressing plus standard care instead of standard care alone was also found to improve outcomes for less cost.


CONCLUSION
Within the study's limitations, use of a collagen-containing dressing plus standard care instead of standard care alone potentially affords the NHS a cost-effective (dominant) treatment for both non-healing and new DFUs, since it improves outcomes for less cost. Hence, protocols should be established which enable clinicians to effectively introduce collagen-containing dressings into care pathways and monitor response to treatment.
['Guest|Julian F|JF|', 'Singh|Heenal|H|', 'Vowden|Peter|P|']
D001424:Bacterial Infections D001458:Bandages D003094:Collagen D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis D017719:Diabetic Foot D006801:Humans D013222:State Medicine D006113:United Kingdom D014945:Wound Healing
cost-effectiveness diabetes diabetic foot ulcer collagen wound healing