Clinical Research on Foot & Ankle
Open Access

Research Article

Economic Evaluation of a Soft Ankle Brace Compared to Tape in Acute Lateral Ankle Ligamentous Sprains

¹Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Rehabilitation, Nursing Science and Sports, University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands

²Revant Rehabilitation Centre, Breda, The Netherlands

³Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Centre Utrecht, The Netherlands

⁴National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands

Corresponding Author:

Ellen Kemler
Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience
Department of Rehabilitation, Nursing Science and Sports
University Medical Centre Utrecht, W01.121
P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands
Tel: + 31 6 16242309
Fax: + 31 88 7555450
E-mail: h.j.kemler-2@umcutrecht.nl

Received Date: May 02, 2016; Accepted Date: October 21, 2016; Published Date: October 28, 2016

Citation: Kemler E, Krist MR, Van de Port IGL, Hoes AW, Ardine de Wit G, et al. (2016) Economic Evaluation of a Soft Ankle Brace Compared to Tape in Acute Lateral Ankle Ligamentous Sprains. Clin Res Foot Ankle 4:212. doi:10.4172/2329-910X.1000212

Copyright: © 2016 Kemler E, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Background: Ankle sprains are common injuries, associated with high healthcare and societal costs. After sustaining an acute ankle sprain, ankle taping is the standard treatment in the Netherlands. Ankle braces are sometimes used as an alternative. The aim of the present study was to assess the costs-effectiveness of soft ankle bracing compared to ankle tape treatment in patients with an acute lateral ankle ligamentous sprain (ALALS).
Methods: We conducted an economic evaluation from a societal perspective alongside a controlled trial. In order of presentation, patients were alternately allocated to four week treatment with a soft ankle brace or four week treatment with ankle tape. Costs and clinical outcomes with respect to re-injuries were derived from online patient questionnaires at 5, 9, 13, 26, 39, and 52 weeks after inclusion. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were performed. Cost-effectiveness was assessed using bootstrapping with 5000 replications.
Results: In total 157 patients with an ALALS were included, of which 151 (tape n=76, brace n=75) were analyzed. After one-year of follow-up, no significant clinical differences were found between both treatments groups. Mean total costs were €1,634 (SD 261) per patient in the brace group and €1,846 (SD 296) per patient in the tape group; mean difference -€212 (95%CI -854 to 436). The use of an ankle brace was less expensive in 71% of the bootstrap replications.
Conclusions: In patients with ALALS, soft ankle bracing compared to ankle taping had similar clinical effect. The costs of soft bracing were lower. However, this difference was not statistically significant.

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