title: Experience with botulinum toxin therapy for axillary hyperhidrosis and comparison to modelled data for endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy - A quality of life and cost effectiveness analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate cost-effectiveness of botulinum toxin therapy for axillary hyperhidrosis compared to the standard surgical intervention of endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS).
  
  
  METHODS
  The validated dermatology life quality index questionnaire was given to patients attending for treatment over a 4 month period, to assess their quality of life (QoL) over the preceding week (n = 44). Follow-up was performed 4-6 weeks later by telephone using the same questionnaire to validate the effectiveness of the treatment. The duration of effect of the botulinum toxin treatment was also recorded and this data was used as the basis for cost effectiveness analysis. Using HIPE data, the baseline cost for single intervention using botulinum toxin and ETS was retrieved. Using figures provided by HIPE and expert opinion of the costs of complications, a stochastic model for 10,000 patients was used to evaluate the total costs for ETS including the complications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results from the QoL analysis show that botulinum toxin therapy is a successful therapy for improvement of symptoms. It was revealed that the mean interval before recurrence of original symptoms after botulinum toxin therapy was 5.6 months. The baseline cost for both treatments are €389 for botulinum toxin and €9389 for uncomplicated ETS. The stochastic model yields a mean cost of €11,390 for ETS including complications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatments reached cost equivalence after 13.3 years. However, given the efficacy of the botulinum toxin therapy and the low risk we propose that botulinum toxin therapy for hyperhidrosis should be considered the gold standard.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland. Electronic address: johngibbons@rcsi.ie.
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland.
authors.forename: Emmeline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nugent
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland.
authors.forename: Nollaig
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: O'Donohoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland.
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland.
authors.forename: Bridget
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Egan
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Feeley
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght, Dublin 24, Ireland.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tierney
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001365:Axilla; D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics; D003879:Dermatologic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006945:Hyperhidrosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012606:Scotland; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013562:Sympathectomy / Q000191:economics; D013906:Thoracoscopy / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D003879:Dermatologic Agents; D001905:Botulinum Toxins
keywords: Axillary Hyperhidrosis; Botulinum toxin; Sympathectomy