Purpose of Technology

Long-term antibiotic therapy is used to treat persons with chronic Lyme disease (LD), also called post-Lyme disease syndrome (PLDS). LD is characterized by fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, and cognitive deficits occurring in patients previously treated for earlier stages of LD.

Questions addressed in this report include:

• Category 1: Patients have no evidence of B. burgdorferi infection, and the symptoms have no known cause.
• Category 2: Patients exhibit a well-defined illness unrelated to B. burgdorferi infection.
• Category 3: Patients have symptoms of an unknown cause, exhibit antibodies against B.
  burgdorferi, but have no history of objective clinical findings consistent with LD.

• Category 4: Patients continue to exhibit fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, and musculoskeletal pain for > 6 months after treatment. This category of chronic LD is also called PLDS.
• Is long-term antibiotic therapy effective for treatment of chronic LD?
• Is long-term antibiotic treatment for the treatment of chronic LD safe?
• Have definitive patient selection criteria been identified for the use of long-term antibiotic therapy for chronic LD?

These questions provide a framework for review and synthesis of the best available evidence, which is presented in this report, along with the Hayes Ratings for the technology. This report also provides background information about the condition being treated, a description of the technology, and the context for development of the technology. Other key elements addressed in the report include the regulatory status; applicable Medicare and commercial payer coverage policies; relevant ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnosis codes; cost and cost effectiveness; credentialing; hospital length of stay; need for large case management; and ongoing and future clinical trials of the technology.

Posted in Directory Reports
This entry was posted on Thursday, December 2nd, 2010 at 12:00 pm.