Reduction in Dressing Change Burden in Patients With Epidermolysis Bullosa-Impact of Oleogel-S10

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a severe genetic disorder marked by skin fragility and blistering from minimal trauma. Management relies on frequent and painful dressing changes. The EASE study (NCT03068780), the largest to date in EB, previously demonstrated accelerated wound healing and reduced wound burden for Oleogel-S10 (birch triterpenes) versus control gel. This post hoc analysis focused on dressing change frequency and related time and cost savings among patients with daily dressing changes at baseline (Oleogel-S10 n = 47, control gel n = 53). By Day 90, 35.6% of Oleogel-S10 patients required fewer daily changes versus 10.6% in the control group (p = 0.005). Weekly dressing changes reduced by 1.36 ± 0.24 with Oleogel-S10 compared to 0.41 ± 0.23 for control (difference -0.95 ± 0.33; p = 0.005). This translated to almost three fewer dressing changes every 2 weeks for Oleogel-S10 versus nearly one change for the control gel. The estimated time saved per week was 10.7 h with Oleogel-S10 (6.4 h patient, 4.3 h caregiver) versus 4.0 h with control (2.4 h patient, 1.6 h caregiver). Estimated dressing costs reduced by 59%, from $63.4 k to $25.9 k per patient over 27 months. Oleogel-S10 significantly reduced dressing frequency and time burden, with potential to ease the intensive demands of EB wound care.