Critical limb ischaemia: the burden of illness in the UK.

Authors: WM Hart & JF Guest.
Source: British Journal of Medical Economics 1995; 8: 211-221.

ABSTRACT

This study, a prevalence-based “burden of illness” analysis, estimates the annual direct healthcare cost of critical limb ischaemia (CLI) in the UK to be £213.9 million at 1994 prices. This is the first study to show that CLI is a major drain on healthcare resources. Critical limb ischaemia also exerts a considerable human toll. Annually, approximately 200,000 patients suffer from CLI; 10,851 surgical procedures and 4667 amputations are performed; and 50% of patients die within five years of first reporting symptoms. The future burden of CLI largely depends on factors affecting reconstructive surgery and amputation, since these account for an estimated 56% of the total cost. Hopefully, future analyses will show that novel interventions reduce the human and financial toll exerted bv CLI.