Treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa Evaluation Study

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Treatment of Hidradenitis Suppurativa Evaluation Study

  • IRAS ID

    266172

  • Contact name

    John Ingram

  • Contact email

    ingramjr@cardiff.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Cardiff University

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    2 years, 11 months, 31 days

  • Research summary

    Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a long term, painful skin condition that involves boils in areas such as the armpits and groins. It affects approximately 1% of young adults of working age. Onset is usually in early adulthood and so careers and economic productivity are often affected in addition to quality of life.

    Despite being a relatively common condition, the evidence base for management of HS is relatively sparse, with only a small number of clinical trials. Surveys of dermatologists and surgeons highlight idiosyncrasies in treatment strategies, suggesting that there may be undesirable variation in treatment in the UK.

    The aim of our study is to inform the design of future HS trials and to understand how HS treatments are currently used in order to provide vital information to answer questions that were identified as priority areas for research by patients with HS and the doctors and nurses who treat them.

    Participants with HS will be asked to select one of the study treatment options that is appropriate for their care. The clinician will advise the participant on which treatments are most suitable and available to help guide their treatment choice. Each participating site will be able to offer at least 4 of the 5 study treatment options. The treatment options include: oral doxycycline 200mg OD,oral clindamycin and rifampicin both 300mg BD as a combined course for 10 weeks, laser treatment , deroofing of sinus tracts and conventional surgery. Treatment period is 6 months, follow up is a total of 12 months. We will measure how well the treatment has worked using recommended questionnaires and will help to interpret the questionnaire results by checking what changes in score matter to patients and whether the questionnaires are suitable for normal clinical practice.

    We will then be better equipped to shape the future direction of HS management.

  • REC name

    Wales REC 4

  • REC reference

    19/WA/0263

  • Date of REC Opinion

    26 Sep 2019

  • REC opinion

    Further Information Favourable Opinion