Patient-Reported Outcome in Dupuytren's Disease Treated With Fasciectomy, Collagenase or Needle Fasciotomy: A Swedish Registry Study.

PURPOSE: This registry study compares the patient-reported outcomes of 3 treatments for Dupuytren´s disease: open fasciectomy (OF), collagenase injection (CCH) and percutaneous needle fasciotomy (PNF).

METHODS: From the Swedish national quality registry for hand surgery (HAKIR) we included 2,585 procedures (in 2,414 patients): 1,200 treatments were OF, 918 CCH, and 467 PNF. The choice between CCH and PNF varied mainly because of regional differences in reimbursement of CCH. We report the results of the validated patient-reported outcome instrument HQ-8. HQ-8 evaluates symptoms in the treated hand and is issued before treatment, 3 and 12 months after treatment and is used for all patients in HAKIR.

RESULTS: At 3-month follow-up, patients treated with CCH or PNF experienced less stiffness, weakness, numbness, tingling and sensitivity to cold. At 12 months , the differences among the 3 treatments were smaller, but CCH patients experienced less stiffness and weakness compared to PNF-treated patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Most randomized controlled trials have not shown significant differences in recurrence rates or patient-reported outcomes between CCH and PNF, but the number of patients has been limited and no randomized controlled trials have included all 3 treatments. In the present study, we compared registry data on patient-reported outcomes for OF, CCH, and PNF in a real-life clinical setting. Our results confirm that the noninvasive treatments (CCH and PNF) cause less disability than OF and indicate a possible advantage of CCH compared to PNF regarding stiffness and weakness at 1 year after treatment based on patient-reported outcomes. Patient-reported residual symptoms are important to consider when informing patients and selecting treatment for Dupuytren´s disease.

TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Observational registry study III.