Patient Satisfaction with AbobotulinumtoxinA for Aesthetic Use in the Upper Face: A Systematic Literature Review and Post-hoc Analysis of the APPEAL Study

Riekie Smit; Elena Gubanova; Joely Kaufman; Marina Landau; Beatriz Molina; Bill Andriopoulos; Pascal Maisonobe; Inna Prygova; Alessio Redaelli

Patient Satisfaction with AbobotulinumtoxinA for Aesthetic Use in the Upper Face: A Systematic Literature Review and Post-hoc Analysis of the APPEAL Study

J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2021 Feb;14(2):E69-E88. Epub 2021 Feb 1.

Authors

Riekie Smit^{1

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7}, Elena Gubanova^{1

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7}, Joely Kaufman^{1

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7}, Marina Landau^{1

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7}, Beatriz Molina^{1

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7}, Bill Andriopoulos^{1

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7}, Pascal Maisonobe^{1

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7}, Inna Prygova^{1

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7}, Alessio Redaelli^{1

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7}

Affiliations

¹ Dr. Smit is with the Dr. Riekie Smit Aesthetic Medical Practice in Pretoria, South Africa.
² Dr. Gubanova is with Vallex Med Clinic of Preventive Medicine, Moscow National University of Food Production in Moscow, Russian Federation.
³ Dr. Kaufman is with the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine and Skin Associates of South Florida in Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America.
⁴ Dr. Landau is with Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, Israel.
⁵ Dr. Molina is with Medikas Medispa in Street, Somerset, United Kingdom.
⁶ Dr. Andriopoulos is with Galderma Aesthetics in Uppsala, Sweden. Mr. Maisonobe and Dr. Prygova are with Ipsen Pharma, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
⁷ Dr. Redaelli is with the Visconti di Modrone Medical Center in Milan, Italy.

PMID: 34221231
PMCID: PMC8211347

Abstract

BACKGROUND: AbobotulinumtoxinA (AboBoNT-A; Dysport^®; Ipsen, Boulogne-Billancourt, France/Azzalure^®; Galderma, Lausanne, Switzerland) is a botulinum neurotoxin type A approved for aesthetic use in the treatment of glabellar lines in adult patients under 65 years in Europe, the United States, and other countries. OBJECTIVE: We sought to analyze current literature on patient satisfaction with aboBoNT-A for upper facial aesthetic indications. METHODS: A systematic review of literature databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar) was performed to identify English-language publications reporting on patients with aesthetic indications (including glabellar lines and wrinkles) receiving aboBoNT-A, that assessed patient and/or physician satisfaction with treatment, with no restrictions on comparator studies. Structured data extraction was used to enable inter-study analysis. A post-hoc analysis was also performed to assess patient satisfaction by sex and age, using results from the noninterventional APPEAL study of patients' satisfaction with aboBoNT-A for treating glabellar lines. RESULTS: Overall, 22 original research papers were identified. Patient satisfaction rates for aboBoNT-A treatment were significantly higher versus placebo from two weeks to between three and five months postinjection. At two to three weeks postinjection, patient satisfaction rates were 52% and 99% across studies. In studies with later time points, patient satisfaction rates were 85 to 87 percent at 5 months and between 25 and 100 percent at 6 months post-injection. Physician satisfaction was also high (97%-100%, across three treatments). No notable differences in patient satisfaction by sex or age were observed in the APPEAL study. CONCLUSION: High rates of patient satisfaction have been achieved with aboBoNT-A treatment for upper facial aesthetic indications. Despite the current recommended interval of ≥12 weeks, satisfaction with the aesthetic results of aboBoNT-A therapy is still evident up to 6 months post-injection in some patients.

Keywords: AbobotulinumtoxinA; Dysport; botulinum toxin; crow’s feet; glabellar lines; lateral canthal lines; patient satisfaction; wrinkles.

Publication types

Review