The Unmet Need for Intrathecal Drug Delivery Pumps for the Treatment of Cancer Pain in England: An Assessment of the Hospital Episode Statistics Database



Duarte, Rui V, Sale, Alicia, Desai, Pallav, Marshall, Theresa and Eldabe, Sam
(2020) The Unmet Need for Intrathecal Drug Delivery Pumps for the Treatment of Cancer Pain in England: An Assessment of the Hospital Episode Statistics Database. NEUROMODULATION, 23 (7). pp. 1029-1033.

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Abstract

<h4>Objectives</h4>Intrathecal drug delivery (ITDD) devices have been shown to be a clinically effective and cost-effective option for the management of cancer pain and recommended for use in England. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the 2015 NHS England Clinical Commissioning Policy on the uptake of ITDD pumps for the management of cancer pain or if there is an ongoing unmet need for this intervention in England.<h4>Materials and methods</h4>Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) were obtained for all patients undergoing ITDD for the management of cancer pain between 2014 and January 2020. In addition, HES were utilized to estimate the number of patients with cancer potentially eligible for ITDD pump during the same period.<h4>Results</h4>The number of patients with cancer and those potentially suitable to receive an ITDD for the management of cancer pain have increased year on year since 2014. This increase has not been matched by an uptake in the provision of ITDD. Conservative estimates suggest that at least 8000 people with cancer pain would be eligible for ITDD; 458 patients received an intervention for pain management between April 2018 and March 2019 and only 30 ITDD pumps were implanted in that same period.<h4>Conclusions</h4>We observed a substantial gap between the need and provision of ITDD for patients with refractory cancer pain in England despite the recommendation for the use of ITDD for this patient population. In addition, we present suggestions for improvement of access to and provision of ITDD in England.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Cancer pain, Hospital Episode Statistics, intrathecal drug delivery pumps, NHS England Clinical Commissioning Policy, policy uptake
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 25 Sep 2020 10:16
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 23:31
DOI: 10.1111/ner.13264
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3102512