OBJECTIVES:

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GORD) is a disease characterised by heartburn, chest pain, difficulty swallowing and regurgitation of food. Standard treatment is the prescription of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI). The treatment options for failed medical treatment include the Nissen fundoplication and LINX system reflux treatment. RefluxStop is an implantable single-use device implanted by using standard laparoscopic surgery. This abstract looks at the budget impact associated with introducing the RefluxStop procedure into the National Health Service (NHS) in England and Wales.

METHODS:

A five-year time horizon, one-year cycle length and the UK NHS perspective were used in the analysis. Estimates for the England and Wales population and population growth projections were obtained from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) database. GORD prevalence, incidence rate and the general population operative rate of laparoscopic anti-reflux surgery in the UK were taken from medical literature. The current market share of individuals requiring either of the two surgical options as well as the market share post RefluxStop launch were based on Implantica market research and assumptions. Unit costs were sourced from national databases and published literature. Extensive sensitivity analyses were undertaken around key model inputs.

RESULTS:

The overall one-year, three-year and five-year financial impacts of introducing RefluxStop were £713,430, £2,122,955 and £3,039,561 per year, respectively, which corresponded to 0.39%, 1.14% and 1.68% increases per year in overall NHS expenditure for GORD treatment in England and Wales. The use of more optimistic and pessimistic market uptake rates (doubled and halved market uptake of RefluxStop) led to one-year increases in NHS expenditure of 0.79% and 0.20% and five-year increases of 3.36% and 0.84%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

The introduction of RefluxStop is likely to only have a marginal impact on England and Wales NHS budget.