OBJECTIVES: Leg ulcers (LU) can be a complication of vascular or arterial disease, or of mixed or unknown aetiology. In a study of 1000 acute and chronic wounds, LUs accounted for 33% of all wounds. LUs incur a considerable treatment cost; frequent contact with various health care providers for assessment and dressing changes is expensive to the National Health Service (NHS). Reducing healing time could alleviate this burden whilst improving patient outcomes.

METHODS: A budget impact model (BIM) was developed from the perspective of the NHS with a time horizon of 5 years. UrgoStart is a protease-modulating dressing, and mean time to closure for LUs in a large pooled observational study of 6800 patients was 112.5 days, compared to 210 days for a population not using UrgoStart. Population data from the United Kingdom, including population growth, and the incidence of LU the BIM identifies patients eligible for treatment with UrgoStart. A 2018 retrospective database analysis of 505 patients informed resource utilization and costs used in the model.

RESULTS: Over the 5-year period, 3.8 million patients were eligible for treatment with UrgoStart. The cost of treatment per patients using UrgoStart was £1544.23 vs £3114.67 using a neutral dressing. The much-improved time to healing demonstrated by UrgoStart is the driver of these cost savings. Using UrgoStart on all eligible LUs could save on average £1.1 billion per year for the NHS; and reduce the number of days with ulceration by 47%, from 815 million to 435 million days.

CONCLUSIONS: This analysis shows that UrgoStart should be considered as part of a preferred treatment strategy for LUs; there is also evidence to show better healing rates when used as a first line intervention. With current drives towards efficiency in the NHS, UrgoStart provides an opportunity to reduce costs and improve outcomes for patients.