Novel Wound Management for Venous Leg Ulcers
Novel Wound Management for Venous Leg Ulcers
Patients were predominantly men (77.8%), black (66.7%), and with a mean age of 54.9 ± 13.5 years (range, 34 to 77 years). Six patients had been previously treated with standard treatments and 12 patients received Sepaderm as their initial treatment. All of the wounds responded positively to the Sepaderm treatment. Figure 1 shows results at weeks 1 and 4 for a venous leg ulcer that previously showed modest response to standard treatment. Ten of 16 patients who were treated for 3 to 13 weeks had either > 80% healing or complete wound closure. Two patients had the shortest treatment duration of 1 week with wound closure of 15% and 33%, respectively. The average healing rate of all 18 patients is shown in Figure 2. The treatment resulted in very good initial healing rates during the first 4 weeks among these patients (Table 1). Importantly, patients experienced no pain in the wound area throughout the treatment duration (Table 2). The wounds were well granulated during treatment (Table 2). The amount of exudate was small to moderate and there was no foul odor. There was no maceration of periwound skin with Sepaderm treatment, except for one patient who had maceration at baseline and whose periwound skin returned to normal after 6 days of treatment. The design of Sepaderm's circular-frame support cushion, in combination with the wicking strip and reservoir, prevented exudate built-up on the wound and protected the wound matrix from disturbances.
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 1.
Healing of a venous leg ulcer that previously failed to heal under standard treatment.
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 2.
Mean percent wound closure of 18 venous leg ulcers.
Results
Patients were predominantly men (77.8%), black (66.7%), and with a mean age of 54.9 ± 13.5 years (range, 34 to 77 years). Six patients had been previously treated with standard treatments and 12 patients received Sepaderm as their initial treatment. All of the wounds responded positively to the Sepaderm treatment. Figure 1 shows results at weeks 1 and 4 for a venous leg ulcer that previously showed modest response to standard treatment. Ten of 16 patients who were treated for 3 to 13 weeks had either > 80% healing or complete wound closure. Two patients had the shortest treatment duration of 1 week with wound closure of 15% and 33%, respectively. The average healing rate of all 18 patients is shown in Figure 2. The treatment resulted in very good initial healing rates during the first 4 weeks among these patients (Table 1). Importantly, patients experienced no pain in the wound area throughout the treatment duration (Table 2). The wounds were well granulated during treatment (Table 2). The amount of exudate was small to moderate and there was no foul odor. There was no maceration of periwound skin with Sepaderm treatment, except for one patient who had maceration at baseline and whose periwound skin returned to normal after 6 days of treatment. The design of Sepaderm's circular-frame support cushion, in combination with the wicking strip and reservoir, prevented exudate built-up on the wound and protected the wound matrix from disturbances.
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 1.
Healing of a venous leg ulcer that previously failed to heal under standard treatment.
(Enlarge Image)
Figure 2.
Mean percent wound closure of 18 venous leg ulcers.
