Comparison of sterile polyacrylate wound dressing with activated carbon cloth and a standard non-adhesive hydrocellular foam dressing with silver: a randomised controlled trial protocol

Using patient-reported experiences to inform the use of foam dressings for hard-to-heal wounds: perspectives from a wound care expert panel

Caring for patients with hard-to-heal (chronic) wounds requires a multifaceted approach that addresses their diverse needs, which can contribute to the complexity of care. Wound care providers must have a comprehensive understanding of the patient's comorbid conditions and psychosocial issues to provide personalised and effective treatment. Key quality indicators for effective wound care involves not only selecting appropriate local wound care products, such as foam dressings, but also addressing individual patient experiences of wound-related pain, odour, itch, excessive wound drainage, and self-care needs. The purpose of this review is to inculcate the wound care practice community, research scientists and healthcare industry with a sense of accountability in order to work collaboratively in addressing these unmet care needs.

Development of 3D-Printable Albumin-Alginate Foam for Wound Dressing Applications

In this article, a method to develop 3D printable hybrid sodium alginate and albumin foam, crosslinked with calcium chloride mist is introduced. Using this method, highly porous structures are produced without the need of further postprocessing (such as freeze drying). The proposed method is particularly beneficial in the development of wound dressing as the printed foams show excellent lift-off and water absorption properties. Compared with methods that use liquid crosslinker, the use of mist prevents the leaching of biocompounds into the liquid crosslinker. 3D printing technique was chosen to provide more versatility over the wound dressing geometry. Calcium chloride and rhodamine B were used as the crosslinking material and the model drug, respectively. Various biomaterial inks were prepared by different concentrations of sodium alginate and albumin, and the fabricated scaffolds were crosslinked in mist, liquid, or kept without crosslinking. The effects of biomaterial composition and the crosslinking density on the wound dressing properties were assessed through printability studies. The mist-crosslinked biomaterial ink composed of 1% (w/v) sodium alginate and 12% (w/v) albumin showed the superior printability. The fabricated scaffolds were also characterized through porosity, mechanical, degradation, and drug release tests. The mist-crosslinked scaffolds showed superior mechanical properties and provided relatively prolonged drug release.

Superabsorbent charcoal dressing versus silver foam dressing in wound area reduction: a randomised controlled trial

AIM

This study aimed to compare the effect of a novel sterile polyacrylate wound pad with activated carbon cloth treatment with a standard non-adhesive hydrocellular foam dressing with silver in reducing wound area.

METHOD

A multicentre randomised controlled open-label wound-dressing trial was conducted in two wound care outpatient clinics in western Switzerland from November 2018 to March 2020.

RESULTS

A total of 77 successive patients were randomised to receive either a sterile polyacrylate wound pad with activated carbon cloth treatment (n=38) or the standard non-adhesive hydrocellular foam dressing with silver (n=39). Reduction in wound area was the primary outcome, whereas the application period of the dressing, odour, maceration and pain were the secondary outcomes. Wound area was measured at baseline and during each wound dressing change until the dressings were no longer indicated. Wound area reduced faster in the intervention group than in the control group (0.45cm² per day vs. 0.2cm² per day), although the application period was longer in the intervention group compared with the control group (9.5 days vs. 8.1 days). Maceration reduction was more pronounced in the intervention group (-2.07cm²) than in the control group (-0.71cm²). Odour, pain and infection were similar in both groups.

CONCLUSION

Sterile polyacrylate wound pad dressings with activated carbon cloth reduced the wound area, as well as the maceration area, faster than the non-adhesive hydrocellular foam dressing with silver.

Virtual Reality-Based Analysis of Pressure Ulcer Care Information Related to Medical Equipment for the Prevention of Pressure Ulcer Skin Foam Dressings in the Elderly

As the standard of life has increased with the advancement of the time, there has been an increasing stress on healthcare with the aging diet, and pressure sores occur in elderly hospitalized subjects. Of course, the emergence of related medical devices, especially auxiliary foam dressings, is constantly improving. Pressure ulcers are extremely harmful to the elderly. The use of virtual reality technology to simulate the treatment of foam excipients is to test the role of medical devices in virtual reality. In particular, the use of foam dressings in the management of pressure deposits is the most relevant study for this paper, which reviews the relevant literature and conducts a thematic study on patients in a specific urban hospital. The relevant materials were designed, the experiments were designed, and the relevant research data were obtained. Studies show that virtual reality-based preventive medical devices can improve the efficiency of pressure ulcer treatment in hospitals by about 12%. Pressure ulcers have different incidences among people of different ages. The probability is much higher than that of adolescents. Foam dressing is very effective in preventing pressure ulcers. The probability of pressure ulcers after using foam dressing is about 35% lower than that when it is not used.

Wound dressings: curbing inflammation in chronic wound healing

Chronic wounds represent an economic burden to healthcare systems worldwide and a societal burden to patients, deeply impacting their quality of life. The incidence of recalcitrant wounds has been steadily increasing since the population more susceptible, the elderly and diabetic, are rapidly growing. Chronic wounds are characterised by a delayed wound healing process that takes longer to heal under standard of care than acute (i.e. healthy) wounds. Two of the most common problems associated with chronic wounds are inflammation and infection, with the latter usually exacerbating the former. With this in mind, researchers and wound care companies have developed and marketed a wide variety of wound dressings presenting different compositions but all aimed at promoting healing. This makes it harder for physicians to choose the correct therapy, especially given a lack of public quantitative data to support the manufacturers’ claims. This review aims at giving a brief introduction to the clinical need for chronic wound dressings, focusing on inflammation and evaluating how bio-derived and synthetic dressings may control excess inflammation and promote healing.