title: Efficacy and cost-effectiveness of octenidine wound gel in the treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers in comparison to modern wound dressings.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of an octenidine-based wound gel in the treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers. For this purpose, 49 wounds were treated with either modern wound-phase-adapted dressings alone (treatment arm 1; n = 17), octenidine wound gel plus modern wound-phase-adapted dressings (treatment arm 2; n = 17) or octenidine wound gel alone (treatment arm 3; n = 15). During the study period of 42 days with dressing changes every 3-5 days, wound healing characteristics and treatment costs of different dressings were analysed. Wound size reduction was significantly better (P = 0·028) in both octenidine wound gel treatment arms compared to modern dressings alone with total reductions of 14·6%, 64·1% and 96·2% in treatment arms 1-3. Early wound healing was merely observed under octenidine wound gel treatment (n = 9), whereby lowest treatment costs were generated by octenidine wound gel alone (€20·34/dressing change). As a result, the octenidine wound gel is cost-effective and well suitable for the treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers, considering both safety and promotion of wound healing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Federal County Hospital, Bregenz, Austria.
authors.forename: Gilbert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hämmerle
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Federal Academic Teaching Hospital, Feldkirch, Austria.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Strohal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007097:Imines; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009779:Occlusive Dressings; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011725:Pyridines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014647:Varicose Ulcer / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D007097:Imines; D011725:Pyridines; C034213:octenidine
keywords: Chronic venous leg ulcer; Cost-effectiveness; Modern wound dressing; Octenidine wound gel; Wound healing