The gold standard treatment for Dupuytren's contracture is surgical excision of the cord. A non-surgical treatment with collagenase clostridium histolyticum injection is available but appears costly.
Objectives: To provide data on resource consumption related to surgical and non-surgical treatment for Dupuytren's contracture.
Design and participants: Twenty patients with a single digit Dupuytren's contracture, 10 treated with surgical excision, and 10 treated with a single injection of collagenase.
Measurements: Minutes spent in theatre, number of follow-up appointments, time to skin healing, and patients return to normal activities of daily living.
Results: The injection group was significantly better regarding theatre time (p < 0.0001), follow-up appointments (p = 0.048), skin healing time (p < 0.001), and return to normal activities of daily living (p = 0.02) than the operated group.
Conclusions: There are significant personal and health economic differences between the two methods of treatment which may influence local choice.