Dupuytren's Interventions: Surgery vs. Collagenase (DISC) Trial
Joe Dias, Professor of Hand and Orthopaedic Surgery in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Leicester and his colleagues at Leicester’s Hospitals have been awarded a National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment (HTA) grant of just under £2million for the Dupuytren’s Interventions Surgery vs. Collagenase (DISC) Trial.
The importance of this research remains, Dupuytren’s Contracture is the fourth most common problem affecting the hand in the UK. The disorder, occurring mostly in adult men, is caused by fibrous tissue forcing the finger to bend down into the palm of the hand. Although it is rarely painful, patients cannot straighten the finger and this increasingly interferes with hand function.
The most common and accepted treatment method is surgery to straighten the bent finger by removing the fibrous tissue. Each year, surgery is performed on around 17,000 patients in England which costs the NHS over £60 million.
An alternative method to surgery is a newly introduced Collagenase injection (CCH) which softens the fibrous tissue. Administered in clinic, with a follow up clinic appointment a few days later, the finger is manipulated in an attempt to straighten it.
The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently (July 2017) updated their guidance on the use of collagenase (Technology Assessment 459), and acknowledge that the DISC trial and the findings it will generate will be crucial in determining if the injection is no worse than surgery and whether the effects are sustained in the long-term.
Further details regarding the study are available at:
If you require any further information about this study, please do not hesitate to contact the Trial Management Team for further information via the channels below.
(Information updated March 2022)