An ostomy baseplate with a skin-protection technology reduces peristomal skin complications: a randomized controlled trial (the ATTRACT study).

Background: Peristomal skin complications (PSCs) are the predominant complication for people living with a stoma, negatively affecting their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). PSCs may also have an impact on healthcare costs for society with more visits to healthcare professionals and increased consumption of products and treatment strategies, which amplifies the need for new strategies to reduce or prevent PSCs.

Objectives: To evaluate the performance of an ostomy baseplate with a skin-protection technology. The target group comprised people living with a stoma with liquid faecal effluent, who struggled with PSCs.

Methods: A randomized, controlled, open-labelled, cross-over trial was conducted from September 2021 to February 2022 in five different countries. Each participant tested the investigational product against a comparator product (SenSura® Mio). The Ostomy Skin Tool 2.0 was used to evaluate the peristomal skin and HRQoL was measured using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire. Data were analysed in mixed repeated-measures models.

Results: A total of 79 adult participants (mean age 54.5 years, female 45.6%) were included in the intention-to-treat (ITT) population. A significant reduction in PSCs (P = 0.015) and HRQoL (P = 0.035) was found for the investigational product when compared with the comparator product. Also, significantly more study participants preferred the investigational product when compared with the comparator product (P = 0.017).

Conclusions: The investigational product, an ostomy baseplate with a skin-protective technology, reduced PSCs and improved the HRQoL of people living with a stoma with liquid faecal effluent. Consequently, the investigational product was the preferred ostomy appliance of the participants. Thus, the product investigated in this study may be a new solution to be included in everyday clinical practice to overcome leakage-induced PSCs for people living with a stoma.