Category: Articles

HMP Global Announces Keynote Speaker for October Symposium on Advanced Wound Care

HMP Global recently announced world-renowned fetal pediatric surgeon Oluyinka Olutoye, MD, PhD will deliver the Keynote Address during the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC Fall), taking place October 29-31, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In a session focused on Research, Discovery & Innovation on Friday, October 29, 2021 at 9:10 AM PDT, Dr. Olutoye’s address will combine inspiration with critical insight, and detail how his early research evolved to clinical care and brought fetal wound healing to the field … Dr. Olutoye first achieved international recognition in 2016 after successfully completing an unprecedented operation on a baby-in-utero. Under Dr. Olutoye’s leadership, a team of 21 doctors removed a sacrococcygeal teratoma from a baby’s tailbone, establishing Dr. Olutoye as an innovator and difference-maker in the surgical field. His groundbreaking work and specialized clinical expertise in fetal and neonatal surgery has yielded promising research on the role of the inflammatory response in scarless fetal wound healing and in-utero correction of severe congenital malformations.

To learn more and register for SAWC Fall visit sawcfall.com.

Study finds sharp fall in amputations among people with type 1 diabetes

Amputation in type 1 diabetes is becoming relatively less common in Sweden. The rate has fallen by just over 40 percent over an approximately 20-year period, a University of Gothenburg study shows.

The results, published in the journal Diabetologia, are based on registry data on 46,088 people with type 1 diabetes in the years 1998–2019. The study involved linking data from the Swedish National Diabetes Register, the National Patient Register, and a couple of other Swedish national registers … read more

The Benefits of Merging Medical Care and Technology

Technology is always advancing, and it is one industry that never stands still. Another industry that is constantly pushing boundaries too is the medical or healthcare industry. Merging two industries to ensure high rates of success is essential. When you look at the advantages of merging technology with medical care and medical treatment, you realize that the potential is limitless and endless … For example, wound care is an area where little has changed over recent years. However, this may be something that can change with the introduction of the silicone-covered wound dressing, which enables cleaner and faster healing for certain types of wounds. These dressings can be changed even easier and quicker, which is, of course, beneficial to those changing, and cleaning up wounds, in any healthcare setting … read more

A novel macrophage-regulating new drug has shown promise in treating diabetic foot ulcers according to the latest issue of article ….

Accumulating scientific evidence has revealed that targeting macrophage phenotypes might be a potentially effective therapy in DFUs because hyperglycemia increases the ratio of proinflammatory M1 to pro-regenerative M2 macrophages. This study is the first international Phase 3 randomized clinical trial of an investigation drug able to regulate M1/M2 macrophage activities in the patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). The investigational compound has been given a research code: ON101 (trade name: Fespixon) has demonstrated the clinical superiority to the standard care (an absorbent dressing). The primary endpoint, complete healing, was found in 60.7% of the ON101 group and 35.1% of the comparison group during the treatment period (p=0.0001). Time to complete healing, the secondary endpoint, was faster in the ON101 group (p=0.002). The researchers have reported that “Topical application of ON101 with gauze … read more

Painful and Non-painful Diabetic Neuropathy, Diagnostic Challenges and Implications for Future Management

Peripheral neuropathy is one of the most common complications of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Up to half of patients with diabetes develop neuropathy during the course of their disease, which is accompanied by neuropathic pain in 30–40% of cases. Peripheral nerve injury in diabetes can manifest as progressive distal symmetric polyneuropathy, autonomic neuropathy, radiculo-plexopathies, and mononeuropathies.

The most common diabetic neuropathy is distal symmetric polyneuropathy, which we will refer to as DN, with its characteristic glove and stocking like presentation of distal sensory or motor function loss … read more

Wound Care Centers Market Expected To Reach Over USD 32.60 billion By 2028: Data Lab Forecast

The Wound Care Centers Market study comprises a comprehensive market analysis that encompasses key aspects of the industry and defines current market dynamics in detail. It assesses growth patterns, magnitudes, and specific business developments under the current Wound Care Centers market scenario. The study report shows a balanced presentation of statistical and theoretical data with an accurately estimated forecast that includes the growth prospects in the specified period. The study also determines the market share and size of the Wound Care Centers along with the metric forecast associated with its growth and development during the forecast period. The study mainly focuses on the precise growth projections contained in the report … read more

Screening for Depression in Patients with Chronic Wounds

Wounds with a duration longer than 30 days are considered chronic. For example, diabetic foot ulcers comprise a large majority of these wounds and often exceed the expected 12-week healing period because of underlying factors that cannot be fully corrected.1 Patients with chronic wounds face considerable psychological stress because they need continuous medical care and frequent visits to healthcare facilities. The presence of these wounds significantly disrupts the daily life of patients, including changes in sleeping patterns, diet, and mobility. Loss of mobility may lead to feelings of loneliness, powerlessness, and dependency, as patients rely on family or friends to help fulfill their basic needs such as commuting, activities of daily living, and personal hygiene. Further, patients may experience chronic pain, exudate, and odor, which negatively impact social interactions, relationships, sexuality, and self-confidence. All of these psychosocial factors add up and may lead to a slow onset of anxiety and depression in patients with chronic wounds … read more

Reducing Hospital-acquired Pressure Injuries Among Pediatric Patients Receiving ECMO

BACKGROUND: Pediatric patients immobilized for certain procedures, such as extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), are at high risk for developing hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs). PURPOSE: To evaluate the rate of HAPI occurrence in ECMO patients before and after implementation of prevention interventions. METHODS: Patients younger than 18 years of age who were placed on ECMO from January 2012 through March 2020 were identified, and patient data … read more

Assessing the Links Between Eschar Removal and Management of Severe Burns

When treating severe burns, surgeons generally consider eschar removal to be the major factor and the top challenge in both initiating and planning for the optimal course of treatment for each patient. Before grafting, all devitalized tissue must be removed, leaving a wound bed of only healthy tissue. Some burn wounds are clearly full-thickness on initial examination, and some are clearly superficial, with relatively straightforward decision making. However, some wounds have an indeterminate depth and are more challenging. Deep partial-thickness, indeterminate-, and … read more

Webinar: Documenting Drainage Quantity

Coverage of surgical dressings by third-party payers depends, in part, on the volume of drainage of the ulcer being treated. Providers who dispense surgical dressings and expect payment from a third-party payer must document the drainage quantity of the ulcer. This webinar will review this requirement, list the options for drainage documentation, and detail exactly how drainage documentation should be documented in the medical record.

At the end of Dr. Lehrman’s presentation stay for a Question & Answer session where he will answer any questions that you might have.

What You Will Learn:

  • List the keywords needed in documenting ulcer drainage when dispensing surgical dressings.
  • Define different terms used to document ulcer drainage quantity.
  • List the drainage volume requirements associated with commonly used surgical dressings.

Register Now!

Singapore researchers develop novel 3D model to study vascular diseases

A Singapore team of scientists and clinicians from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), have developed a three-dimensional (3D) model of the human artery blood vessel wall. Called an “arterial wall-on-a-chip”, it will help researchers study atherosclerosis … read more

Topical Cream Effective Against Diabetic Foot Ulcers

A topical cream that helps regulate macrophage activity was effective in treating diabetic foot ulcers, a clinical trial reported.

In 236 patients with foot ulcers treated for 16 weeks, the proportion who had complete healing of the ulcer was significantly higher in the group randomized to receive the topical cream (60.7%) versus a comparator group treated with absorbent dressing (35.1%; OR 2.84, 95% CI 1.66-4.84, P<0.001), said Shun-Cheng Chang, MD, of the Taipei Medical University in Taiwan, and colleagues … read more

FDA Clears Drug-Device Combination Matrix for Chronic Wound Care

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared the Omeza Collagen Matrix, a drug-device combination matrix for chronic wound care … The approval was granted through the FDA 510(k) premarket notification process. It is the first combination drug/device designed for chronic wound care … The wound care matrix is composed of hydrolyzed fish collagen infused with cod liver oil and other plant-derived oil and wax. After it is applied to a wound, the matrix is incorporated into the wound over time … read more

Take A Load Off: Offloading Tips And Pearls In Wound Care

Diabetic foot ulcerations (DFUs) affect approximately 26 million people worldwide, with a staggering 2.5 times increased risk of death at five years.1-3 While many etiologies and conditions contribute to a wound, offloading is crucial to solving the wound healing puzzle.

In some literature, offloading is the most important aspect of DFU treatment in patients with neuropathy.4-6 The thought behind offloading is relief of mechanical and abnormal stresses that the foot experiences from a loss of protective sensation. This combination results in tissue damage, thought to lead to many DFUs.1,4,7 Specifically, mechanical stress is due to increased plantar pressure and shearing forces during the gait cycle, causing repetitive microtrauma … read more

Reducing Health Disparities in Pressure Ulcer/Injury (PU/PI) Detection & Management October 7-9, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia

Join the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC) for our Pressure Ulcer Summit (PrU), themed Reducing Health Disparities in Pressure Ulcer/Injury (PU/PI) Detection & Management, on October 7-9, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.

– Upon completion of this conference, participants will be able to:
– Describe existing disparities related to pressure ulcer/injury (PU/PI) prevention and care.
– Discuss challenges in providing equitable pressure injury prevention and care.
– Describe characteristics of pressure injury and other damage of persons with dark skin tones.
– Identify at least one method of leveling the playing field for pressure injury detection.

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Researchers develop new drug-free treatment to accelerate healing of chronic diabetic wounds

About one-fourth of people with diabetes develop painful foot ulcers, which are slow to heal due to low oxygen in the wound from impaired blood vessels and increased inflammation. These wounds can become chronic, leading to poor quality of life and potential amputation … Jianjun Guan, a professor of mechanical engineering & materials science in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed a hydrogel that delivers oxygen to a wound, which decreases inflammation, helps remodel tissue and accelerates healing. Results of the work, which were in a mouse model, are published Aug. 28 in Science Advances. Ya Guan, a doctoral student, and Hong Niu, a postdoctoral research associate, both in Guan’s lab, are co-first authors … read more

Healogics® Raises Awareness of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) to Help Reduce Amputations

Healogics, the nation’s leading provider of world-class wound care services, is raising awareness of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) throughout September. Through this campaign, Healogics is supporting the American Heart Association’s goal to reduce amputations by 20% by 2030 through increased PAD Awareness, diagnosis and treatment … People with PAD often have non-healing wounds in their extremities due to the restriction of blood flow limiting the natural healing process, potentially leading to complications, such as amputation. PAD affects nearly 10 million Americans and is a contributing factor in up to 30% of non-healing wounds on the lower leg. Common symptoms associated with PAD include cramping, numbness, weakness or heaviness in the leg muscles, however up to 40% of people experience no symptoms. One in four people living with late-stage PAD may require amputation within one year … read more

Multifunctional Irrigation-Assisted Vacuum Drainage versus Traditional Drainage in the Treatment of Odontogenic Deep Fascial Infection

Odontogenic deep fascial space infection in the head and neck is a common potentially fatal clinical problem. Traditional drainage method is considered laborious and gravity-dependent. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the clinical effect of a modified multifunctional irrigation-assisted vacuum drainage (MIVD) by comparing it with the traditional drainage method in the treatment of odontogenic deep fascial infection … read more

Wipeout Wounds National Conference Tour

Your Guide to New and Essential Pressure Injury and Ostomy Treatment Protocols
Take control of wound healing by learning about new strategies and tools that will keep you compliant, PLUS spend one-on-one time with industry experts. Learn today and use your knowledge in your clinical practice as soon as tomorrow!
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RITA: The Wound Pros Leverages Artificial Intelligence With Its Wound Measurement App

The Wound Pros (https://thewoundpros.com/) today introduced its automatic wound measurement app, RITA designed to aid healthcare providers in the management and treatment of chronic, non-healing wounds. The Wound Pros is a physician owned and managed wound care company and a leading supplier of wound care dressings with a presence in 16 states across the United States … RITA represents The Wound Pros’ “high-tech” approach that leverages the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning to measure chronic non-healing wounds with pinpoint accuracy. According to Dr. Bill Releford, RITA creator and CEO of the Wound Pros, capturing highly accurate measurements is essential for delivering timely and comprehensive treatments to prevent wounds from worsening and improving healing outcomes.” Clinicians just need to take a picture of a patient’s wound with a smartphone or tablet and RITA will measure its size and generate professional documentation to support treatment and billing alignment. The application integrates seamlessly into The Wound Pros digital wound management platform and allows care teams to remotely monitor patients’ wound progression. RITA offers online and offline capabilities to ensure efficiency and reliability regardless of network connection status … read more

Remote Monitoring Saves Costs in Outpatient Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

In the outpatient setting, combining remote therapy monitoring (RTM) with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) can support improved adherence to prescribed therapy. A recent study reported that patients receiving NPWT with RTM required fewer therapy days than patients receiving NPWT alone, possibly reducing costs of care. Our objective was to determine whether RTM reduced 90-day costs in patients undergoing NPWT … read more

Oxygen-delivering hydrogel accelerates diabetic wound healing

About one-fourth of people with diabetes develop painful foot ulcers, which are slow to heal due to low oxygen in the wound from impaired blood vessels and increased inflammation. These wounds can become chronic, leading to poor quality of life and potential amputation … ianjun Guan, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has developed a hydrogel that delivers oxygen to a wound, which decreases inflammation, helps remodel tissue and accelerates healing. Results of the work, which were in a mouse model, are published Aug. 28 in Science Advances. Ya Guan, a doctoral student, and Hong Niu, a postdoctoral research associate, both in Guan’s lab, are co-first authors … read more

Tele Wound Care Navigation for Wound Care Providers

The digital age is upon us, like it or not, ready or not. For the past few years, payers have incentivized, encouraged, reimbursed, and adopted various digital, remote monitoring systems and devices as a way to encourage providers to adopt more digital, remote methods. Although complete telehealth services were not reimbursed in all care settings in all Zip Codes by all payers throughout the United States at the beginning of 2020, many of the restrictions and barriers to provide nearly complete digital services were suddenly released in response to the needs of a nation in the throes of a pandemic … read more

Improved wound management at lower cost: a sensible goal for Australia

Chronic wounds cost the Australian health system at least US$2·85 billion per year. Wound care services in Australia involve a complex mix of treatment options, health care sectors and funding mechanisms. It is clear that implementation of evidence‐based wound care coincides with large health improvements and cost savings, yet the majority of Australians with chronic wounds do not receive evidence‐based treatment. High initial treatment costs, inadequate reimbursement, poor financial incentives to invest in optimal care and limitations in clinical skills are major barriers to the adoption of evidence‐based wound care. Enhanced education and appropriate financial incentives in primary care will improve uptake of evidence‐based practice. Secondary‐level wound specialty clinics to fill referral gaps in the community, boosted by appropriate credentialing, will improve access to specialist care. In order to secure funding for better services in a competitive environment, evidence of cost‐effectiveness is required. Future effort to generate evidence on the cost‐effectiveness of wound management interventions should provide evidence that decision makers find easy to interpret. If this happens, and it will require a large effort of health services … read more

Next Science to Exhibit Surgical Product Portfolio at AAOS 2021

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Next Science Limited (ASX:NXS), an innovative medical technology company, announced that it will exhibit at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting and conference in San Diego, California, from Aug. 31 – Sept. 3. Next Science, whose mission is to heal patients and save lives by addressing the impact of biofilms on human health, will exhibit at Booth No. 5035.

Next Science will showcase its portfolio of ground-breaking products, including:

  • XPERIENCE™ No Rinse Antimicrobial Solution, a non-toxic surgical solution that is designed to help prevent surgical site infections (SSIs) by rinsing away debris and microorganisms; and
  • SURGX®, a topical gel that is applied to a closed surgical incision to help prevent superficial SSIs.

Next Science also will host a presentation that addresses the impact of biofilms on SSIs, discusses risk mitigation strategies and shares clinical results from high-risk patients. The session, Biofilm and Surgical Site Infections, takes place on Sept. 1 from 12:40 – 1:25 p.m. in Meeting Room 1 and will be led by four prominent orthopaedic surgeons:

  • Dr. Robert Harris, Hughston Clinic
  • Dr. Jon E. Minter, Northside Hospital
  • Dr. Randall Otto, SSM Health
  • Dr. Ravi K. Bashyal, NorthShore University Hospital

read more

What Measurement Of Wound Healing Is Most Valuable?

Great, provocative work recently in the International Wound Journal by our colleagues Professor Keith Harding and coworkers.1 In their study, they note that healing in total can be a challenging metric to measure, as every wound is very different. In the research world, this translates into difficulty in matching study cohorts, especially when there are not very large subject pools available. Also, they note that the lengthy time necessary to heal many wounds requires that the associated study also takes substantial time. This makes high-quality RCTs with statistically significant and applicable data few and far between.

Taking a slightly different viewpoint on evaluating outcomes in wound healing … read more

Sustained oxygenation accelerates diabetic wound healing by promoting epithelialization and angiogenesis and decreasing inflammation

Nonhealing diabetic wounds are common complications for diabetic patients. Because chronic hypoxia prominently delays wound healing, sustained oxygenation to alleviate hypoxia is hypothesized to promote diabetic wound healing. However, sustained oxygenation cannot be achieved by current clinical approaches, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Here, we present a sustained oxygenation system consisting of oxygen-release microspheres and a reactive oxygen species (ROS)–scavenging hydrogel. The hydrogel captures the naturally elevated ROS in diabetic wounds, which may be further elevated by the oxygen released from the administered microspheres. The sustained release of oxygen augmented the survival and migration of keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts, promoted angiogenic growth factor expression and angiogenesis in diabetic wounds, and decreased the proinflammatory cytokine expression … read more

Novel Cellulose Fibre-Based Flexible Plasmonic Membrane for Point-of-Care SERS Biomarker Detection in Chronic Wound Healing

Wound management is stretching the limits of health systems globally, challenging clinicians to evaluate the effectiveness of their treatments and deliver appropriate care to their patients. Visual inspection and manual measurement of wound size are subjective, often inaccurate and inconsistent. Growth factors, such as pro-inflammatory cytokines and proteases, play important roles in cutaneous wound healing. However, little is known about the point-of-care monitoring of the changes in such markers during the healing process. Here, we explore the capability of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) as a viable point-of-care platform to monitor the changes of these surrogate indicators of healing status in chronic wounds …. read more

Smart plaster could accelerate the healing of chronic wounds

Circulatory disorders, diabetes or lying in the same position for extended periods can all lead to chronic wounds that do not heal. There are hardly any effective treatment options. A materials science research team from Kiel University (CAU), together with colleagues from the University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Harvard Medical School, U.S., and Dankook University in South Korea, has developed a wound patch with enhanced healing functions which can be individually adapted for each patient. The 3D-printed patch has antibacterial properties, supplies the wound with oxygen and moisture, and supports the formation of new tissue … read more

PODIATRY MANAGEMENT FEATURES KERECIS FISH SKIN

Dr. Christopher Winters has written a “Profile in Excellence” article featuring Kerecis fish-skin technology in this month’s issue of Podiatry Management magazine.

 

In the two-page article, “Fish-Skin Grafts Heal Complex Wounds”, Dr. Winters interviews two podiatrists who have used different formulations of the technology — Ian Barron, DPM, of the Clintonville Foot & Ankle Group of Columbus, Ohio, and Brittany Wojnicki, DPM, of Horizon Health in Paris, Illinois. Each presents a case in which they have healed complex diabetic wounds using Kerecis fish skin.

 

Dr. Barron discusses his treatment of a 70-year-old woman, who presented a serious necrotizing infection that had required a fourth and fifth ray amputation. She had lost a lot of soft tissue, and the deep wound had extensive tunneling. She was at risk of a bellow-the-knee amputation, which Dr. Barron feared would shorten her life. In the article, Dr. Barron shares how he used a combination of Kerecis Omega3 MicroGraft and Kerecis Omega3 OR to heal the patient´s wound.

 

Dr. Wojnicki describes a case in which a 71-year-old diabetic, who had already lost one leg above the knee to amputation, developed gangrene in his remaining foot. In the article, Dr. Wojnicki details how, after trying standard of care methods without success, she healed the patient´s deep and complex foot ulcer with Kerecis Omega3 Wound. “I can´t believe how quickly the wound healed,” she says. “Other grafts take a while to incorporate. With the fish skin, I do a treatment, and a week later it is gone. The new skin is healthy and tough. I´ve never had an application show such a dramatic difference.”

 

Click here to read the full article

Durable Healing Outcomes of Topical Wound Oxygen (TWO2) Therapy Highlighted at Leading International Clinical Conferences

OCEANSIDE, Calif., Aug. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc. (AOTI) announced today that its unique multimodality Topical Wound Oxygen (TWO2) therapy was recently highlighted at multiple leading international clinical conferences across the United States and United Kingdom. AOTI participated both as a sponsor and exhibitor at these events that were conducted in a hybrid format, where attendance could be either in person, or virtually, to allow for the greatest clinician engagement, something that has now become standard during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Clinical Societies
Clinical Societies
The prestigious Malvern Diabetic Foot Conference, the world’s longest standing international multidisciplinary diabetic foot meeting, was held in Malvern, UK, from July 7 – 9, where during the New Treatments for Diabetic Foot Lesions session, the growing portfolio of high quality clinical evidence supporting the effectiveness of cyclical-pressure TWO2 therapy in healing DFU, was expertly summarized by Professor Robert Frykberg, DPM, MPH., who also presented the results from the recently published paper entitled: Topical oxygen therapy for diabetes-related foot ulcers: A systematic review and meta-analysis, by Professor Golledge et al., which further highlighted the strength of the TWO2 RCT.

 

The Annual Scientific Meeting (The National) of the American Podiatric Medical Association was held in Denver, USA from July 29 – August 1, where a breakthrough abstract by Matthew G. Garoufalis, DPM and Aliza M. Lee, DPM, MS, entitled: The Power of TWO2: Real World Evidence of the Long-Term Healing and Health Benefits of Cyclical Pressurized Topical Wound Oxygen Therapy in Diabetic Foot Ulcerations was presented, further demonstrating significant reductions in Hospitalization and Amputations over 12-months for DFU patients treated with TWO2, compared to those who were not.

 

The 2021 Vascular Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery was held in San Diego, USA from August 18 – 21, where during a Vascular Live Presentation, entitled: TWO2 Therapy for Healing DFU and VLU: Reducing Hospitalizations and Amputations, the eminent vascular surgeon, Anil Hingorani, MD, summarized the cyclical oxygen pressure noncontact compression mechanism of action of TWO2, reviewed real word cases and even provided a video testimonial from a patient who had suffered with nonhealing Venous Leg Ulcers (VLU) for years, until finally healing with the addition of TWO2 therapy.

 

Dr. Mike Griffiths, CEO and Medical Director of AOTI, commented; “AOTI is proud to continue to support the world’s leading clinical societies and wound care physicians in their quest for more durable healing of Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Venous Leg Ulcers by utilizing our unique multimodality approach. Our evidence-based TWO2 therapy is applied by the patient safely at home, which when combined with our enhanced Telehealth features, helps clinicians maintain critical continuity-of-care during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It is especially rewarding to hear in a patient’s own words the significant impact that durably healing their refractory wounds has on their daily lives. It’s both quite humbling and motivating for us all to continue in our cause to make TWO2 therapy available to all who could benefit from its life altering outcomes.”

 

About AOTI

AOTI is a privately-owned company based in Oceanside, California USA and Galway, Ireland that provides innovative solutions to resolve severe and chronic wounds worldwide. Our products reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of life for patients with these debilitating illnesses. Our patented non-invasive Topical Wound Oxygen (TWO2) therapy is unsurpassed in closing all chronic wound types.

 

For more information see: www.aotinc.net

Contact:
Dr. Mike Griffiths
CEO and Medical Director
317543@email4pr.com
(760) 672 1920

SOURCE AOTI Inc.

What to Know About Diabetes Prevalence and Management in Asia

The number of people who live with diabetes has been increasing worldwide over the last several decades, but there has been a significant jump in the number of people with diabetes — particularly type 2 diabetes — in Asia and China.

Currently, more than 60 percent of people with type 2 diabetes live in Asia, primarily in China and India.

There are many complicated factors that play a role in why diabetes diagnoses are increasing in this part of the world. Rapid industrialization and urbanization lead to lifestyle changes that factor into the increasing rate of diabetes in Asia … read more

A multi‐centre, single‐blinded randomised controlled clinical trial evaluating the effect of resorbable glass fibre matrix in the treatment of DFUs

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) represent one of the many complications of long-standing diabetes.1 Not only are these wounds expensive to treat, with a recent systematic review showing that the mean cost was over $31 000 in 2015,2, 3 but complications, especially infection, can require prolonged antibiotic administration, deep and extensive debridement, and lower extremity amputations when these measures fail. Even relatively shallow (UT1A, Wagner 1) DFUs that do not respond to standard of care (SOC) are at risk for amputation of the affected area.2-5 This risk increases for patients who have had prior DFUs or amputations. Any product, therefore, that can prevent infection or disrupt biofilm while promoting wound healing in a moist environment is worthy of further investigation … read more

Experimental chronic wound dressing made from human protein

If you’re trying to make a wound dressing that will be well-tolerated by the human body, you may be best off using human-derived materials. That’s the approach that German researchers have taken, creating a tropoelastin-based bandage. Tropoelastin protein molecules are produced naturally by the human body, and they’re the main building block of elastin, a biopolymer which gives the skin and organs their elastic properties. In the past, scientists have tried to reduce scarring by injecting tropoelastin directly into wounds, without much success … read more

The “self-treatment of wounds for venous leg ulcers checklist”

Patients who have chronic wounds such as leg ulcers should be active participants in their treatment and care. This participation may include self-treatment of the wound which involves the patient cleaning the wound, applying and removing wound dressings, and/or applying and removing compression therapy. The aim of the study was to develop a Checklist to assist nurses to appraise the conduct of wound treatment when undertaken by the patient. A three-phase mixed methods study was conducted. A systematic and evidence-based approach to developing and using structured observations for the study of health behaviour guided the process of developing, piloting and refining the Checklist … read more

Barriers to Prevention and Timely Presentation of Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Perspectives of Patients from a High-risk Urban Population in the US

Diabetic foot amputation is a preventable complication that is increasing in incidence in the United States, with disparities across geography, race, ethnicity, and income. This qualitative study explored the experiences of people in a low-income urban area in the United States in preventing and obtaining care for foot ulcers. Sixteen adults with foot ulcers were identified through purposive sampling based on records of hospital stays and primary care visits. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analyzed for key themes. Participants described inadequate understanding of diabetic foot disease: many sought care only after developing advanced symptoms. They identified social and health system factors as barriers to timely access to care. Some participants described a realization of the seriousness of their condition and an ability to improve self-care after developing an ulcer. Patients’ experiences can inform the design of amputation-reduction initiatives to achieve more desirable results, including enhanced self-management capabilities, timely access, and attention to social determinants … read more

TECHNOLOGY EFFECTIVE AGAINST ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT PATHOGEN

RESEARCH SHOWS ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT CANDIDA ALBICANS IS KILLED BY EXPOSURE TO VOMARIS BIOELECTRIC V.DOX™ TECHNOLOGY

Vomaris Innovations, Inc. announced today the publication of results demonstrating that the company’s bioelectric V.Dox™ Technology is effective in killing antibiotic-resistant Candida albicans pathogens. The manuscript, “Ketoconazole Resistant Candida albicans is Sensitive to a Wireless Electroceutical Wound Care Dressing,” was published in Bioelectrochemistry https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2021.107921. The research was led by Chandan K. Sen, Ph.D., Director of the Indiana Center for Regenerative Medicine and Engineering at Indiana University and Distinguished Professor and J. Stanley Battersby Professor of Surgery at the IU School of Medicine.

 

Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest global public health challenges of our time1. Every year, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the United States2, and 700,000+ people die globally3. Meanwhile, the discovery of novel antimicrobials is not keeping up with the emergence of new superbugs.1,4 “Antibiotic resistance is growing, and we are fast running out of treatment options. If we leave it to market forces alone, the new antibiotics we most urgently need are not going to be developed in time,” predicts Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation.

 

In the study, researchers sought to determine whether the wireless electroceutical wound care dressing or “WED”, was effective in managing pathogenic molecular processes employed by ketoconazole-resistant yeast Candida albicans. Candida albicans poses a major threat to skin and wound infection. It’s typically treated topically with the drug ketoconazole. However, ketoconazole-resistant pathogens are an emerging threat in the management of skin infection.  The authors believe that the emergence of multidrug resistance in Candida albicans warrants the need for alternative, non-pharmacological methods of wound treatment.

 

Vomaris’s WED, powered by V.Dox™ Technology, is a proprietary pattern of embedded microcell batteries that wirelessly generates a low level of electricity in the presence of moisture.  The research team used an in vitro model to test WED alone, ketoconazole alone, and the combination of WED + ketoconazole, against ketoconazole-resistant Candida albicans. Three controls were used, including no treatment, plain polyester fabric, and a fabric impregnated with silver.

 

The researchers found that WED functioned in a multi-pronged manner to effectively treat ketoconazole-resistant Candida albicans. Findings included:

  • Prevented hyphal growth. The development of hyphae (long, branched filaments) is a critical part of albican’s growth cycle. Stopping hyphal growth prevents C. albicans from causing infection and subsequent tissue damage.
  • Impaired efflux pump system. Damaging this system prevents albicans from rejecting helpful antibiotics.
  • Damaged cell wall integrity. Weakening the cell wall structure allows antibiotics to reach the pathogen.
  • Disrupted biofilm formation. C. albicans develops a biofilm ‘shield’ to protect it from immune system and antibiotic attack. WED interfered with its ability to form biofilm.
  • In contrast, silver alone was ineffective in all experiments.

“This work presents clear evidence that the wireless electroceutical dressing kills ketoconazole-resistant Candida albicans,” said Dr. Sen. “Our findings introduce the option of a novel biophysical solution for fighting chronic wound infection in which antibiotic-resistant pathogens are prevalent.”

“These latest findings by Dr. Sen and team add to our growing body of evidence on the significant role electricity can play in combatting antibiotic-resistant pathogens. In this era of antibiotic stewardship, a wound care product that kills pathogens without the use of antibiotics is an important technological breakthrough,” said Vomaris President and CEO Michael Nagel. “Our V.Dox Technology is already FDA cleared and is the only bioelectric product of its kind in the marketplace today.”

IU School of Medicine is the largest medical school in the U.S. and is annually ranked among the top medical schools in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.

About Vomaris

Vomaris Innovations, Inc. (www.vomaris.com) is a privately held medical device company specializing in bioelectric technology that is redefining infection control and wound healing. Vomaris’s patented V.Dox™ Technology is defining the bioelectric wound care market; it’s the only platform in the world that powers a new generation of antimicrobial dressings for the wound and incisional care markets. The company currently has six randomized controlled trials in progress.

Vomaris and V.Dox and respective logos are trademarks of Vomaris Innovations, Inc.

 

First-of-Its-Kind Virtual Workshop to Offer Hands-on Skills Practice in Its Live Coverage of Wound Hygiene Principles

Malvern, PA – July 30, 2021 – WoundCon, the first and largest global virtual wound care conference, is proud to announce a new and innovative live event that is free to attend and offers 5.25 CME/CE credits. Biofilm-Based Wound Care is a virtual, hands-on skills workshop that will be presented with closed captioning in eight languages, including Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Polish and English.

The workshop will take place on Friday, September 24, 2021 from 7:00AM to 3:50PM EDT and will be available on-demand for two weeks after the event … read more

New Net Health Innovation Can Predict Risk of Amputations and Wound Healing Rates

Net Health recently announced the addition of two pioneering predictive analytic capabilities embedded in the workflow of the company’s widely used electronic health record (EHR) platform.

Offering artificial intelligence-based capabilities, the Net Health Wound Care software platform now includes the Risk of Amputation Indicator, developed to reduce the risk of amputations, and the Wound Healing Velocity Indicator, developed to predict wound healing rates, according to the company. Net Health says both capabilities will provide insights needed to develop optimal patient therapies, implement effective interventions, and plan treatment paths that will improve outcomes … read more

Silver Ion Hydrocolloid Gauze and Self-Adhesive Polyurethane Foam Dressing Combination Therapy Can Better Promote Healing of Skin Graft Donor Area Than Traditional Therapy

The management of skin graft donor area has been a troublesome problem in reconstructive surgery. Currently, no guidelines exist for the management of skin graft donor areas, and the disposal methods vary from clinician to clinician. Objective. With the goal of providing a better basis for improved patient care, the authors conducted a case control study to investigate whether a combination of silver ion hydrocolloid gauze and self-adhesive polyurethane foam dressing (AG+foam group) was effective in healing skin graft donor sites. Materials and Methods. Forty-eight patients requiring intermediate-thickness skin graft between January 2014 and December 2015 were included in the study. Inclusion criteria included a skin graft measuring at least 40 cm2 to be harvested from the ipsilateral thigh and patient age of 14 years to 60 years. All patients were treated differently according to the … read more

Made Easy: Wound bed preparation

Wound bed preparation (WBP) assists clinicians to identify and address the barriers of wound healing to create an optimal wound healing environment. WBP is a multifaceted approach that includes cleansing and debridement to enhance the effectiveness of therapeutic measures and prepare the wound for healing (Falanga, 2000; Schultz et al, 2003). The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in supported self-care, but this has focused mainly on ensuring the supply of wound dressings, and that patients can identify wound deterioration and change dressings. As the effects of the pandemic continue, there is an opportunity to formalise a supported self-care framework for patients and carers that includes WBP.

MADE EASY: WOUND BED PREPARATION

Study Shows Increased Risk For Foot Infection-Related Hospitalizations In People With Diabetes

According to a recent publication in Diabetologia, there is an increased risk of infection-related hospitalization in patients with diabetes.1 This includes foot infections, for which the risk of hospitalization was nearly six times greater in patients with diabetes than those without. Remarkably, the risk for hospitalization in patients with diabetes for all infection types, including foot infection, respiratory infection, urinary tract infection, GI infection, sepsis, and post-operative infection was 67 percent higher than the non-diabetic group. In addition, the study authors noted a stronger association between diabetes and hospitalization related to infection in younger participants and Black patients … read more

A report of 12 months’ of data collected from a diabetic foot clinic at a public hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

This report interprets data gathered from a diabetic foot ulcer clinic in an outpatient department of a public hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The data were gathered between September 2019 and August 2020 and were entered into a Microsoft Excel™ spreadsheet. It gives basic demographic information of Cambodian patients with diabetic foot ulceration and provides data that can be used to measure any future research or audit. The data collection timeframe … read more

Wound Healing Foundation (WHF) Thomas K. Hunt Lecture Video

We (Wound Healing Foundation) honor Dr. T.K. Hunt, a stalwart wound care expert and supporter of the Wound Healing Foundation. Dr. Hunt is the founding President of the Wound Healing Society and the namesake for the Wound Healing Foundation’s scientific and intellectual Endowed Lecture

 

Evidence for Person-centred Care in Chronic Wound Care

Chronic wounds affect an estimated 2.21 per 1000 population. They are a significant source of morbidity and affect individuals physically, psychologically, socially and financially. Person-centered care is one approach to improve patient outcomes in wound care as it values patients’ perspectives, beliefs and autonomy and considers the person as a whole within the cultural context in which care is provided.

ECONOMIC VALUE OF PODIATRIC SURGERY WHEN ADDED TO A VASCULAR SURGERY PROGRAM

Over the last decade, multidisciplinary “toe and flow” programs have gained great popularity with proven benefits in limb salvage. Many vascular surgeons have incorporated podiatrists into their practices. The viability of this practice model requires close partnership, hospital support, and financial sustainability. We intend to examine the economic values of podiatrists in a busy safety-net hospital in the Southwest United States … read more

Case Presentation: Diabetic Foot Infection and Failed Oral Antibiotics

In this video, Robert J. Klein, DPM, FACFAS, CWS, discusses a case that involves a 51-year-old male with a diabetic foot infection (dog bite) and failed outpatient therapy with oral antibiotics. The patient was then admitted IVABx and for OR debridement and NPWT. Watch the video to learn more about the patient’s outcome.
watch video

Brian Wise is named Woundtech CEO

HOLLYWOOD, Fla., Aug. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Woundtech, a leading wound management company serving Medicare Advantage health plans and at-risk senior care provider groups, announced that Brian Wise has been named as its Chief Executive Officer. Brian Wise succeeds Founder Jeffrey Galitz, MD who will continue as a member of the Board of Directors and advise the company on strategic and clinical direction.

Brian Wise is an accomplished healthcare leader with over twenty years of experience scaling complex care management services and technology under value-based and capitation arrangements. Brian most recently served as Chairman of Cix Health, a patient mobile app empowering patients and family members to manage complex chronic conditions. He was the founder and CEO of Advance Health which later merged with CenseoHealth to become Signify Health. Signify Health offers solutions to payers and healthcare providers to succeed in managing value-based care. Brian also served in senior leadership roles at Amerigroup and Coventry Health Care … read more

Significant Reductions in Amputations, Emergency Visits, and Hospital Readmissions Associated with Advanced Treatment Using Skin Substitute Products …

MiMedx Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: MDXG) (“MIMEDX” or the “Company”), an industry leader in utilizing amniotic tissue as a platform for regenerative medicine, today announced publication of its peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Wound Care (JWC), addressing the observed impact of Advanced Treatment (AT) using all high-cost skin substitute products in lower extremity diabetic ulcers (LEDUs) based on data from the Medicare Limited Dataset (October 1, 2015 through October 2, 2018). The study assessed outcome in patients receiving AT with all high-cost skin substitute products, as designated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), for LEDUs versus No Advanced Treatment (NAT), and found that AT use could lead to a 42% reduction in major and minor amputations and all related costs, compared to NAT. Further, the study highlights preferable outcomes when AT follows parameters for use (FPFU), underscoring the importance of early treatment with regular intervals and well-defined treatment guidelines … read more

Application of Topical Sucralfate and Topical Platelet-Rich Plasma Improves Wound Healing in Diabetic Ulcer Rats Wound Model

One of the most devastating complications of diabetes mellitus is diabetic ulcers. Not only because these ulcers heal slowly, these ulcers may also cause disability and even results in limb loss.1 A diabetic ulcer is a chronic wound usually found in the soles of the diabetic patient’s feet. The occurrence of diabetic ulcers is mostly associated with neuropathy and vasculopathy in the form of the peripheral arterial disease which happens in the lower limb of the diabetic patient.2 Around 2% to 5% of all population in the world suffers from diabetic ulcers.3 The hyperglycemic state in diabetics causes molecular and physiological changes that cause diabetic ulcers to become difficult to heal, increasing its risk to secondary infection and potentially causing limb amputation if it is not treated properly.4 Diabetic ulcers account for nearly 90% of all lower limb amputation cases, with a reported mortality rate per year of 5.5% due to diabetic ulcers.

The main aim of diabetic ulcer therapy is to prevent extensive damage and secondary infection of diabetic ulcers, thereby minimizing the risk of further damage or even limb amputation. A thorough therapy for diabetic ulcers includes wound debridement, wound dressing, revascularization procedures, infection management, and ulcer off-loading … read more

A Human Fibroblast-Derived Growth Factor Preparation in the Management of a Chronic Surgical Wound in a Diabetic Patient: A Case Report

The treatment of choice in patients with ischaemic heart disease is coronary artery bypass grafting. The procedure entails the harvesting of the great saphenous vein through a significant leg incision, which may result in infections and wounding at the incision site. Patients with diabetes mellitus pose a greater risk of developing non-healing wounds, which may significantly affect the patient’s quality of life. The use of anti-inflammatory factors and other chemokines derived from cultured human fibroblasts may represent a useful therapeutic approach for the management of surgical wounds in patients with the greatest probability of being wound healing compromised. This case study describes the treatment of a non-healing surgical tibial wound in a male diabetic patient treated with a preparation of human anti-inflammatory interleukins cytokines, and growth factors. The treatment resulted in swift recovery, significant pain reduction and complete wound closure with minimal scarring … read more

A molecular approach to maggot debridement therapy with Lucilia sericata and its excretions/secretions in wound healing

Chronic wounds caused by underlying physiological causes such as diabetic wounds, pressure ulcers, venous leg ulcers and infected wounds affect a significant portion of the population. In order to treat chronic wounds, a strong debridement, removal of necrotic tissue, elimination of infection and stimulation of granulation tissue are required. Maggot debridement therapy (MDT), which is an alternative treatment method based on history, has been used quite widely. MDT is an efficient, simple, cost-effective and reliable biosurgery method using mostly larvae of Lucilia sericata fly species. Larvae can both physically remove necrotic tissue from the wound site and stimulate wound healing by activating molecular processes in the wound area through the enzymes they secrete. The larvae can stimulate wound healing by activating molecular processes in the wound area through enzymes in their excretions/secretions (ES). Studies have shown that ES has antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, angiogenic, proliferative, hemostatic and tissue-regenerating effects both in vivo and in vitro. It is suggested that these effects stimulate wound healing and accelerate wound healing … read more

Wound Practice and Research Volume 29 Number 2

Editorial
Connect, Collaborate, Innovate
Prof Allison J Cowin and Dr Peta Tehan

Original research
Dissemination of microbiota between wounds and the beds of patients with pressure injuries: a cross-sectional study
Mao Kunimitsu, Gojiro Nakagami, Aya Kitamura, Takeo Minematsu, Yuko Mugita, Kazuhiro Ogai, Junko Sugama, Miku Aoki, Chika Takada and Hiromi Sanada

Original research
Reducing the incidence and severity of pressure injuries in a high level care residential aged facility: a quality improvement project
Allyson Waird, Susan Monaro

Review
Caring for a child with Epidermolysis Bullosa: a scoping review on the family impacts and support needs
Colin J Ireland, Lemuel J Pelentsov, and Zlatko Kopecki

Clinical Trial Protocol
Physical activity, sleep and wound healing in adults with venous leg ulcers: a prospective observational cohort pilot study protocol
Yunjing Qiu, Victoria Team, Christian R Osadnik, Jane O’Brien, Louise Turnour, Ayoub Bouguettaya, Rosemary A McGinnes and Carolina D Weller

Review protocol
Measurement properties of quality of life instruments for adults with active venous leg ulcers: a systematic review protocol
Shiwen Liu, Victoria Team, Yunjing Qiu and Carolina D. Weller

Abstracts
Abstracts from the Wounds Australia Conference 4 – 6 May 202

Medicinal Plants as Efficacious Agents for Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Systematic Review of Clinical Studies

A diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a chronic, nonhealing wound that occurs in approximately 15% to 25% of patients with diabetes, and amputation is necessary in approximately 5% to 24% of these patients. Medicinal plants have demonstrated promising wound healing activities in animal models of DFUs as well as in clinical studies. These plants, which are described as medicinal in different regions of the world, are not considered to be standard medicinal treatments in Western medicine at this time. Some medicinal products, such as bromelain—an herbal protease currently used for enzymatic debridement of wounds—have been obtained from plants, showing the important role of these natural products as sources of wound healing agents. This paper aims to review clinical studies on the effects of medicinal plants in patients with DFUs based on the improvement of local and systemic parameters related to wound healing. Electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library were searched for studies from inception through May 2019 using the keywords “diabetic foot ulcer” … read more

Scenes From the COVID Resurgence in Wound Clinics

Physicians weathered the first wave of COVID-19 over a year ago, coping with challenges such as a lack of personal protective equipment, providing care via telehealth, and a lack of vaccines. With the Delta variant, many hospitals may be swamped with patients with the coronavirus. Several physicians spoke to Today’s Wound Clinic about their challenges.

“We are busier than ever,” says Matthew Regulski, DPM, ABMSP, CMET, FAPWH(c), the medical director of the Wound Care Institute of Ocean County, New Jersey. “We have so many wound patients. Our wound centers are jam-packed.” … read more

DFCON DIABETIC FOOT CONFERENCE October 21 – 23, 2021

DFCon is the premier international, interdisciplinary diabetic foot conference in North America. This year, the DFCon will be hybrid, so it will be possible to attend both virtually and physically. As always, the program will be designed for the wide spectrum of generalists and specialists who diagnose and manage the diabetic foot. Didactic talks, panel discussions, Q&A sessions, specialty symposia and workshops will delve into diagnostic and interventional strategies for diabetic foot ulcers and amputation prevention. DFCon is singular in that it allows close interaction with world-renowned clinician scientists working on both tried and true methods and cutting-edge technology

read more

Frank & Lizzie Show: Episode 006, Dr. Naz Wahab

Join Frank & Lizzie as they discuss the newest wound care technology in the toolbox with Dr. Naz Wahab, MD, FAAFP, FAPWCA. The group will be discussing how this handheld imaging device differs from thermography, how it captures tissue oxygenation in the microvascular system, it’s application in the daily operations of the wound care clinic, and learning curves experienced. For more information and to see the impressive clinical outcomes achieved with Kent Imaging SNAPshot, contact eric@kentimaging.com
 

Assessment of Microcirculation in the Type 2 Diabetic and Impaired Glucose Tolerance Feet of Elderly Men by CEUS

Objective: To evaluate the foot microcirculation in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and impaired glucose tolerance patients (IGT) with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS).

Methods: The study included 37 patients with T2DM but without diabetic foot (DM group), 15 patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT group) and 10 elderly males with normal fasting blood glucose (FBS) and negative glucose tolerance tests (control group). Color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) and CEUS were performed on the right foot great toes for detecting the blood perfusion performance. CEUS images were recorded and parameters of CDFI and flow time-intensity curves (TICs) were analyzed by the Student’s t-test
… read more

Skin closure device aids wound care in a variety of knee procedures

The goals of surgical wound closure include enabling the wound to heal rapidly without infection or complication and returning the incisional region to the best level of function and appearance. How effectively health care professionals use their time in the surgical suite and postoperatively can be a determining factor in the selection of a closure modality … read more

Webinar: Innovations in Wound Care

This 30-minute presentation features learning opportunities that will provide in-depth instruction and demonstration in wound care treatments. After this webinar, the learner will be able to:

  • Identify the role of proper wound cleansing
  • Discuss how to select and use non-toxic wound cleansers
  • Describe advantages of collagen for managing a chronic wound

RedDress Secures Capstone Health Alliance Contract to Expand Access to ActiGraft®

RedDress, a privately held U.S. and Israel-based wound care company, announced today that it has secured a contract with Capstone Health Alliance, one of the nation’s largest regional group purchasing organizations representing 300 hospitals in all 50 U.S. states.

Chronic non-healing wounds impose a significant economic burden on the healthcare system, health care providers, and patients. The ActiGraft® system aims to deliver an affordable and efficacious wound solution to Capstone Health Alliance Members to help improve the health and lives of patients … read more

Evonik Acquires Biomaterials Company JeNaCell

Evonik announced today that it has acquired German biotech company JeNaCell, expanding its biomaterials portfolio with the startup’s biotechnologically derived cellulose. JeNaCell’s biomaterial is used in medical procedures involving wounds and burns as well as in hydro-active skincare treatments.

Evonik first invested in JeNaCell in 2015 through its venture capital arm. With this acquisition, JeNaCell’s portfolio will be integrated into Evonik’s healthcare business, which is shifting from a nutrition and care focus toward system solutions and an expanded division-wide technology platform of natural materials for medical technology. Evonik plans to increase the share of system solutions in its Nutrition & Care division from the current 20% to more than 50% by 2030 … read more

How Will Wound Care Evolve in the Future?

Wound care is expected to cost billions of pounds annually. Wound management products are estimated to be responsible for almost one-quarter of the costs. New approaches to wound management are discussed in this chapter, along with ways in which innovation will improve patient outcomes … read more

Customized, biomedically applicable materials based on tropoelastin for wound care

Customized, biomedically applicable materials based on tropoelastin are being developed in a joint project by Skinomics GmbH from Halle, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Fraunhofer Institute for Microstructure of Materials and Systems IMWS. The material combines biocompatibility, durability, biodegradability and favorable mechanical properties similar to those of skin. Preclinical tests have confirmed that it is suitable for use as a wound dressing material used in the treatment of chronic and complex wounds … read more

Biosensors embedded in bandages could monitor diabetic foot wounds to prevent amputations

It was sparked by a chance conversation. Simon Palfreyman and Manisha Gupta got to talking about their research after a meeting. He’s an expert in wound care and she’s a leader in making biosensors that can be attached to the skin to monitor things like temperature or the presence of germs … Palfreyman, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Nursing, expressed frustration that despite the best efforts of health-care teams, more than a thousand Albertans a year lose their lower limbs to amputation due to complications from diabetic foot ulcers … read more

Evidence in wound care

There is an ever-growing variety of products and devices available to practitioners to improve healing rates and patient outcomes, but practitioners should be able to critically appraise evidence to make appropriate evidence-based changes to practice. This position document reviews the available evidence in wound care, looking especially at the critical appraisal of level 1 evidence, before considering the steps required to translate evidence to practice … read more

InsiteOne LLC expands relationship with existing customers and closes successful First Quarter of operation

InsiteOne LLC, the leading provider of offsite cloud enterprise imaging archiving solutions, announces today a successful first quarter of operation that included contracting directly with over 50 NTT DATA customers and several resellers, dealers, and partners. While providing world-class cloud outsourcing services to NTT DATA and their customers is a primary focus, InsiteOne is also transitioning those customers and partners who have elected to continue and/or expand their enterprise imaging archiving footprint with InsiteOne directly — many of whom were original customers/partners of InsiteOne 20 years ago.

Doylestown Health (DH), located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, re-evaluated its complete enterprise imaging needs in the Spring of 2021. As an existing NTT DATA customer for radiology archiving for the past five years, DH was looking for a partner that could help design and execute on its enterprise imaging and cloud strategy … read more

Wound care and dressing selection for pharmacy teams

Pharmacists play a key role and are often the first point of contact for people with wounds, both chronic and acute. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this has only become more apparent.

The burden of wound care is increasing through the ageing population, growing comorbidities and increased skin integrity issues (Guest et al, 2015; Guest et al, 2020), with the annual prevalence of wounds increasing by 71% between 2012/2013 and 2017/2018 (Guest et al, 2020) – and with many people being reluctant to go into the hospital or primary care setting, the key role of the pharmacist will continue to develop and grow … read more

Indian Scientist Develops Advance Wound Dressing Material That Can Treat Diabetic Wounds and Manage Chronic Ones at Competitive Cost

An Indian scientist has developed an advanced wound dressing based on agarose, a natural polymer derived from seaweed agar, for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds and patients suffering from chronic wounds … An Indian scientist has developed an advanced wound dressing based on agarose, a natural polymer derived from seaweed agar, for the treatment of infected diabetic wounds and patients suffering from chronic wounds … read more

Synedgen Initiates Clinical Trial Assessing Combination of SynePure and Catasyn for the Treatment of Partial Thickness Burns

Synedgen, a biotechnology company using glycopolymer chemistry to develop therapeutics that enhance and control signaling in the innate immune system, today announced the initiation of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the safety and effectiveness of SynePure™ Wound Cleanser (SynePure) in combination with Catasyn™ Advanced Technology Hydrogel (Catasyn) for the treatment of superficial partial-thickness burn wounds … This study is an investigator-initiated randomized trial comparing SynePure and Catasyn (intervention group) to the current gold standard treatment, Silvadene (control group). Both groups will receive the same care other than cleansing treatment. Subjects will be recruited from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Mercy Burn Center adult patient population who have sustained superficial partial-thickness burn wounds. Dr. J. Peter Rubin, MD, the Chair of Plastic Surgery at UPMC, is the principal investigator for this study. The trial is being funded by the Defense Health Agency (DHA) through the US Army Medical Research and Development Command’s (USAMRDC) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to improve the current treatment of burn wounds, particularly to meet a gap in the early acute phase of treatment and will potentially increase the technological readiness level of these products … read more

Infection-Related Hospitalizations High for Adults With Diabetes

People with diabetes may face a higher risk for hospitalization for any infection, a new analysis suggested.

In a prospective study of over 12,000 middle-age adults, those with diabetes had a 67% higher risk for infection-related hospitalization compared with adults free of diabetes over the course of nearly 30 years (HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.52-1.83), reported Elizabeth Selvin, PhD, MPH, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues … read more

FDA participates in new ‘collaborative communities’ to address emerging challenges in medical devices

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced participation in several new collaborative communities aimed at addressing challenges in patient health care. Collaborative communities are a continuing forum where private and public sector representatives of the community work together on medical device challenges to achieve common objectives and outcomes.

“We’re pleased to announce the progress we’ve made with participation in collaborative communities. These collaborations with diverse stakeholders are not only a strategic priority for the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, they also provide much needed forums for deep discussion and solution-driven initiatives to tackle important issues within the medical device ecosystem,” said Jeff Shuren, M.D., J.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “The insights and outcomes developed by these groups will have long-standing impacts on public health.” … read more

Documentation Of In-Office Imaging

Upon performing reviews of colleagues’ documentation practices, one consistent deficiency I find is the documentation that accompanies in-office imaging, namely X-ray and ultrasound studies. Each payer may have their own guidelines, but most follow the guidelines promulgated by Medicare in the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 15, Section 80.

These guidelines include the requirement of a written order in the medical record for the imaging study. This order must include … read more

The joint EWMA & Journées Cicatrisations Virtual Conference

Leading up to next year’s conference in Paris the EWMA and the SFFPC will hold a Joint EWMA & Journées Cicatrisations VIRTUAL Conference on 26-27 October 2021.

With both the Virtual Conference in the autumn and the Conference in Paris in 2022, we can continually bring high-level scientific education to the wound care community and facilitate the knowledge sharing that will ultimately benefit patients around the world … read more

SkinTE® Met Primary and Secondary Endpoints in Final Analysis from Diabetic Foot Ulcer Trial

SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PolarityTE, Inc. (Nasdaq: PTE) today announced final data from a multi-center randomized controlled trial evaluating treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU) with its investigational product SkinTE® plus standard of care (SOC) vs SOC alone (NCT03881254). The trial met the primary endpoint of wound closure at 12 weeks and secondary endpoint of Percent Area Reduction (PAR) assessed at 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 weeks. 100 participants were evaluated across 13 sites with 50 participants receiving SkinTE plus SOC and 50 receiving SOC alone. PolarityTE is pleased to announce today the final analysis of the full data set, which includes:

  • Primary Endpoint: 70% (35/50) of participants receiving SkinTE plus SOC had wound closure at 12 weeks versus 34% (17/50) of participants receiving SOC alone (p=0.00032)
  • Secondary Endpoint: Percent Area Reduction (PAR) assessed at 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 weeks was significantly greater for the SkinTE plus SOC treatment group vs SOC alone (p=0.009)
  • 90% (45/50) of SkinTE plus SOC treated participants received a single application of SkinTE
  • Treatment with SkinTE plus SOC increased the odds of wound closure by 5.37 times versus SOC (p=0.001)

Mean (SD) values for PAR at weeks 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 by treatment group

Week

SkinTE

SOC

4

74.0 (27.63)

22.0 (149.92)

6

82.9 (26.35)

21.2 (160.60)

8

80.7 (35.16)

26.8 (147.42)

10

79.7 (54.07)

45.6 (114.18)

12

84.3 (39.46)

50.5 (92.24)

read more

Inflammatory Biomarkers Levels in T2DM Emirati Patients with Diabetic Neuropathy

Previous studies have suggested the involvement of chronic low‐grade inflammation in the pathogenesis of diabetic neuropathy (DNP). However, none of these studies have examined the levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients with confirmed diagnosis of neuropathy. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the levels of MCP-1 along with IL-6, IL-8 and TGF-β in patients with T2DM and confirmed neuropathy and identify correlations, if any, between MCP-1 and other parameters … read more

Novel discovery describes the mechanisms of wound detection in the body

A new study from Vanderbilt University researchers has established a novel way to understand how the body discovers and responds to wounds. The research was led by graduate student James O’Connor and Professor Andrea Page-McCaw in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, and Shane Hutson, chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and professor of physics and biological sciences … read more

InsiteOne LLC expands relationship with existing customers and closes successful First Quarter of operation

InsiteOne LLC, the leading provider of offsite cloud enterprise imaging archiving solutions, announces today a successful first quarter of operation that included contracting directly with over 50 NTT DATA customers and several resellers, dealers, and partners. While providing world-class cloud outsourcing services to NTT DATA and their customers is a primary focus, InsiteOne is also transitioning those customers and partners who have elected to continue and/or expand their enterprise imaging archiving footprint with InsiteOne directly — many of whom were original customers/partners of InsiteOne 20 years ago.

Doylestown Health (DH), located in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, re-evaluated its complete enterprise imaging needs in the Spring of 2021. As an existing NTT DATA customer for radiology archiving for the past five years, DH was looking for a partner that could help design and execute on its enterprise imaging and cloud strategy … read more

Pressure Injuries (Pressure Ulcers) and Wound Care

Although the terms decubitus ulcer, pressure sore, and pressure ulcer have often been used interchangeably, the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP; formerly the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel [NPUAP]) currently considers pressure injury the best term to use, given that open ulceration does not always occur. [1] According to the NPIAP, a pressure injury is localized damage to the skin and underlying soft tissue, usually over a bony prominence or related to a medical or other device. It can present as intact skin or an open ulcer and may be painful. It occurs as a result of intense or prolonged pressure or pressure in combination with shear … read more

Wound Assessment: Think Like a Detective

Comprehensive wound assessment is analogous to a detective processing a crime scene. The scene is secured (patient scheduled for an evaluation); the scene is processed (patient history is established); evidence is collected and identified (tests, measures, special tests and/or diagnostics are performed) and a working theory and report is generated to ascertain what transpired and what next steps need to be taken. This is akin to establishing a differential diagnosis, determining contributing factors and creating a plan of care to manage the wound and the patients’ medical needs … read more

Evaluation of Wound Healing Activity of Methanolic Crude Extract and Solvent Fractions of the Leaves of Vernonia auriculifera Hiern

Medicinal plants play an important role in treating various diseases. Vernonia auriculifera Hiern is one of the medicinal plants used traditionally for the management of wounds. However, there were no scientific reports documented so far on the wound healing activities to substantiate the claim. Thus, the present study provides a scientific evaluation for the wound healing potential of the crude extract as well as solvent fractions of the leaves of Vernonia auriculifera Hiern … –

Skin closure device aids wound care in a variety of knee procedures

On a daily basis, surgeons are faced with different options for wound closure. Traditionally, surgical incision closure involved sutures or metal staples.

The goals of surgical wound closure include enabling the wound to heal rapidly without infection or complication and returning the incisional region to the best level of function and appearance. How effectively health care professionals use their time in the surgical suite and postoperatively can be a determining factor in the selection of a closure modality … read more

‘The Shoe Project’: Empowering Global Communities One Step at a Time

The Boston-based women empowerment media platform, Women Who Win, recently launched a charity program, “The Shoe Project,” in which they provide footwear and health education to underserved global communities. Currently, India has a slum population of over 80 million people, and slum residents have to walk miles every day to find backbreaking and grueling labor. They often work without proper (or any) footwear. Additionally, there is a significant population of women in slums and villages who live and work barefoot.

As a co-founder of Women Who Win, co-founder, and a podiatrist, this inspired the team to provide good quality, podiatrist-approved and weather appropriate shoes to these communities because proper footwear is essential in preventing foot disease, infections, and amputations … read more

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy Reduced Amputation Risk for Patient With Diabetic Wound

A patient with a diabetic foot wound who underwent negative pressure wound therapy experienced good healing, reduced amputation risk, and no wound infection, suggesting the treatment method could be effective in other patients with similar wounds.

A patient who received negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) after undergoing surgical debridement for a diabetic wound saw improvements in healing capabilities and reduced risks of limb amputation, according to a recent case report published in SAGE Open Medical Case Reports.

The report lends further support to previously published research that has shown NPWT to be effective at decreasing healing time, reducing ulcer area, and increasing healing rates of ulcers. NPWT has also been shown to aid patients with foot ulcers in achieving complete ulcer closure better than advanced moist wound therapy … –

WOCTalk LIVE! A Quarterly Membership Discussion

If you’re familiar with WOCTalk, the official podcast of WOCN, and you’re interested in hearing all the latest news from your Community of OpportunityTM, you’ll enjoy our new quarterly, members-only live discussion in this exciting format! Join us on August 11th for a virtual members-only business meeting where you will hear about the state of the WOCN Society and exciting new initiatives that are on the horizon. This virtual event is open and free to WOCN members only and will include Q&A time with the speakers; registration is required … read more

Introduction to the work of IWGDF Guidelines

Every 20 seconds somewhere in the world someone loses a leg due to the complications of diabetes. After such amputations, over half of these people will die within 5 years. At this moment, millions of people with diabetes suffer from poorly healing foot ulcers, which usually develop as a result of several factors. Successfully managing these ulcers, or, even better, preventing them, depends on the close collaboration of various types of health professionals; they must integrate up-to-date care in their specialty into an effective multidisciplinary foot team. The key factors for optimal outcomes are that team members share common goals and follow evidence-based, comprehensive guidelines … read more

High-Intensity Laser Therapy Deemed Effective for Chronic Refractory Wounds, Research Says

High-intensity laser therapy (HILT) combined with wound dressing was superior to conventional wound care, according to a recent study.

High-intensity laser therapy (HILT) is a promising treatment for chronic refractory wounds and should be considered for use with other treatments, according to a study published in BMJ Open.

According to the researchers, HILT does not only reduce wound size. It can also shorten wound healing time, accelerate inflammatory absorption, and increase collagen synthesis and tensile strength. “The therapeutic effects of HILT on chronic refractory wounds are significant and far more superior to those of conventional wound dressing,” the authors said.

Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been used on skin wounds … read more

Diabetic foot ulceration: an avoidable complication

At present, more than 380 million people worldwide have diabetes. By 2035, this will rise to 592 million. Some 77% of these people live in low- and middle-income countries.1 In emerging countries, in particular, health-care services are often difficult to access, and finding suitable therapies for diabetes can be challenging. Inadequate treatment of diabetes leads to complications such as diabetic foot syndrome (DFS). For an individual with diabetes, the lifetime risk of developing foot ulcers is at least 15%.2 In western countries, DFS remains the most common reason for hospitalisation of patients with diabetes. In addition, DFS is the major cause of non-traumatic lower limb amputation. This supplement aims to improve understanding of DFS and to present essential aspects of prevention, diagnosis and treatment … read more

Nutritional Supplementation in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Populations: What Are the Options When Food Is Just Too Expensive?

Appropriately balanced nutrition is a cornerstone of high-quality wound care, and this isn’t a new revelation. Nearly all modern wound centers include some version of nutritional screening, along with ever-expanding recommendations regarding overall protein intake, complex carbohydrate needs, and micronutrient supplementation as clinical evidence for these is presented … read more

PURE PPI SURVEYS – CAN YOU HELP?

Imperial College London are looking to undertake public and patient involvement for PURE (Exercise to Prevent Venous Ulcer Recurrence) and they are asking for your help!

By completing the short surveys you will be helping the team design a new study looking at different ways to manage leg ulcers.

Psychophysiology: Connecting Skin, Wounds, Aging, and Depression

Skin and wound care involves treating the whole person who is wounded, as well as the components of local wound care. Included in the Wound Bed Preparation model, patient-centered concerns are the subject of several articles in this month’s issue.

The original conceptual psychocutaneous disease framework developed by dermatologist-psychoanalyst Dr Caroline Koblenzer1 was further refined by Drs John Koo and Lebwohl2 with three distinct categories … read more

Older Adults More Likely to Develop Chronic Wounds, Research Shows

Older adults are at a higher risk of developing chronic wounds due to complications associated with aging, research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society showed.

Chronic wounds can be defined as wounds that fail to re-establish anatomic and functional skin integrity over 1–3 months through a timely reparative process. Overlapping descriptions and different wound categories makes understanding the prevalence of chronic wounds difficult, but data published in 2017 revealed that chronic wounds affect 5.7 million Americans and incur annual costs of $20 billion … read more

JWC Masterclass on Electrical Stimulation Webinar

This Masterclass will introduce the concept of electrical stimulation, delivered via the Accel-Heal device, to new markets. Key opinion leaders in wound care will demystify the concept of electrical stimulation, explaining its anti-inflammatory processes in an accessible way.

You will find out how this advanced therapy can be safely and effectively used as adjunct to standard care, to promote healing and reduce pain in recalcitrant wounds.

We will also explain how the device can be incorporated into existing care pathways … read more

Integra LifeSciences Announces Positive Clinical Outcomes for PriMatrix® Dermal Repair Scaffold for the Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation (Nasdaq: IART), a leading global medical technology company, today announced positive clinical outcomes for PriMatrix® Dermal Repair Scaffold for the management of hard to heal diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). This study is one of the largest DFU randomized controlled trials (RCTs) ever completed with more than 100 patients per treatment group and demonstrated that in most cases, one application of PriMatrix plus standard of care (SOC) healed 60% of DFUs in 12 weeks versus 35% of DFUs that healed in 12 weeks with SOC for the per protocol analysis.

This data was recently published by lead investigator, John Lantis, M.D., FACS, from Mount Sinai Health System in New York, in the Journal of Wound Care, the definitive wound-care journal and leading source of up-to-date research and clinical information on everything related to tissue viability … read more

Inexpensive collagen-based dressing could help heal chronic wounds

Currently, many chronic wound dressings incorporate harvested natural biological tissue. Obtaining those tissues from donors – and working them into the material – is typically a very complex process. According to Michigan State University (MSU), this means that such dressings may ultimately cost up to US$1,000 each … Seeking a more affordable alternative, an international team led by MSU’s Asst. Prof. Morteza Mahmoudi has instead looked to collagen, which is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix of the body’s connective tissues … read more

The legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic and potential impact on persons with wounds

COVID-19 has dramatically disrupted the practice of managing individuals with wounds.1 Care has moved onto virtual platforms, rearranging the logistics and economics of running a successful clinical practice and research, and in some contexts,2 redefining what treatments patients with wounds can receive (eg, debridement). Since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, there has been considerable emphasis placed on the implications for patients with wounds in terms of their vulnerability to the virus and potential exposure in health care settings. Many of these are not surprising since most persons with wounds are in the high-risk age groups for COVID-19 … read more

Kent Imaging Inc. Receives Health Canada Approval on SnapshotNIR v3.0

Kent Imaging has announced Health Canada’s approval for SnapshotNIR V3.0 (KD204) – now available for shipping in both official languages. This upgrade provides significant feature enhancements to the imaging technology that advances tissue assessment in acute and chronic wounds. The multitude of features include the ability to image most skin tones (overcoming the melanin barrier), linear and surface area wound measurements, easy report generation with image comparisons, and enhanced patient file management, to name a few.

“As a firmly Canadian company, we are excited to release this enhanced version of SnapshotNIR into the country. This is another critical step in our goal of delivering effective wound care and surgical solutions to care providers and improving patient outcomes,” says Pierre Lemire, Kent’s CEO. “The updates to SnapshotNIR V3.0 will make it easier and faster than ever to bring critical real-time and point-of-care data to the treatment path.”

SnapshotNIR utilizes near-infrared light to determine tissue oxygen saturation (StO2), which is a key indicator of tissue health. Ideal for microcirculation assessment, it conveys a comprehensive picture of the healing capacity of wounds or surgical tissue. This critical information is used to support clinical judgment in choosing, evaluating, and tracking treatment and surgical options throughout the care continuum … read more

Startup turns smartphone camera to wound care

The rise of smartphone has led to a whole host of healthcare applications, from apps that pull in EKG readings to ones that analyze skin lesions. But relatively few are focused on wound care, which can often linger beneath the surface of other health problems.

Carlo Perez, an engineer who worked in 3-D graphics for AMD, began to focus more on wound care after co-founding Swift Medical. He had initially set out to build a broader telemedicine app using computer vision, but began to realize the full scope of the problem after co-founder Dr. Sheila Wang, a dermatologist, took him to a wound clinic … read more

BURR, BENNET LAUNCH WOUND CARE LEGISLATION

Senators Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) have introduced the Better Wound Care at Home Act into the Senate, bipartisan legislation that would update CMS payment rules regarding home-based wound care … The Better Wound Care at Home Act would put disposable items such as disposable negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) devices on par with non-disposable NPWT devices by standardizing the payment methodology nationally … read more

Healiant Training Launches Wound Care Boot Camp Program to Make Wound Care Training and Education Accessible to Everyone

Healiant Training Solutions announces the perfect onramp for anyone seeking to increase their knowledge and competencies in wound care. Whether you are brand new to Wound Care or someone whose been treating wounds for 20 years, the program meets you where you are. Wound Care Boot Camp includes high quality training on basic and advanced topics for individuals and organizations looking to improve their wound care knowledge, and in turn, patient outcomes … High quality wound care education and training can be very expensive, especially the kind of training that leads to accredited clinical credentials and CEs/CMEs. It’s hard to know where to start if you aren’t actively participating in a wound care program. Until now, there has never been a program that meets caregivers and organizations where they are, with the flexibility of starting each person at the appropriate level … read more

Fetal bovine acellular dermal matrix for the closure of diabetic foot ulcers: a prospective randomised controlled trial

The purpose of this clinical trial was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a fetal bovine acellular dermal matrix (FBADM) plus standard of care (SOC) for treating hard-to-heal diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). METHOD: A prospective, multi-centre, randomised controlled trial was carried out. The study included a 2-week run-in period, a 12-week treatment phase and a 4-week follow-up phase. The primary endpoint was complete wound closure at 12 weeks … read more

The role of non-medicated dressings for the management of wound infection

There is growing concern regarding the treatment of infection, caused by the rise of antimicrobial resistance. This position document looks at current treatment approaches to identifying and treating biofilm in wounds, focusing on the mechanism of action and role of non-medicated wound dressings (NMWDs) within antimicrobial stewardship practices and evidence that supports their effectiveness … Download

Call for abstracts. Wounds UK, Harrogate 2021

Wounds UK are pleased to announce the call for abstracts for the 2021 Wounds UK Annual Conference, held at the Harrogate Convention Centre, which will be held on 8-10 November 2021 at the Harrogate International Centre.

To submit your abstract use the following link:  https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WUKH21

Poster presentations will be presented on electronic poster displays only, no hard copy posters will be on display.
Entries for the e-poster exhibition require you to submit an abstract. Every entry received will automatically be considered for the Wounds UK Award for Excellence 2021.

When A Chronic, Painful Wound Is Actually Pyoderma Gangrenosum

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare inflammatory skin condition that is difficult to diagnose. Currently, it is a “diagnosis of exclusion.”1 Presentation of a patient with a red, hot, swollen foot, ankle or leg is not uncommon for the foot and ankle provider, however, misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis are common in cases of PG. In a retrospective study, 39 percent of patients who initially received a diagnosis of PG were ultimately found to have a prior alternate diagnosis … read more

Multiple Interventions for Diabetic Foot Ulcer Treatment (MIDFUT) trial: benefits of involvement for patients and clinicians

Pragmatic diabetic foot ulcer research is key to enhancing clinical expertise and efficiency, patient experience and improved wound healing. Delivery of novel adjuvant therapies in a clinic setting can be challenging, both at clinical and organisational levels. There are many benefits to patients and clinicians from being involved in research. The aim of this article is to present the Multiple Interventions for Diabetic Foot Ulcer Treatment (MIDFUT) trial, describe its purpose, the project implementation and how it is overcoming the challenges of delivering novel therapies in a clinic setting, and the potential benefits to patients and staff … read more

Multicentre clinical trial to explore efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen for preventing ICU admission, morbidity and mortality in adult patients with COVID-19

INTRODUCTION: COVID-19 may cause severe pneumonitis and trigger a massive inflammatory response that requires ventilatory support. The intensive care unit (ICU)-mortality has been reported to be as high as 62%. Dexamethasone is the only of all anti-inflammatory drugs that have been tested to date that has shown a positive effect on mortality. We aim to explore if treatment with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) is safe and effective for patients with severe COVID-19. Our hypothesis is that HBO can prevent ICU admission, morbidity and mortality by attenuating the inflammatory response. The primary objective is to evaluate if HBO reduces the number of ICU admissions compared with best practice treatment for COVID-19, main secondary objectives are to evaluate if HBO reduces the load on ICU resources, morbidity and mortality and to evaluate if HBO mitigates the inflammatory reaction in COVID-19 … –

Wound Care: Wearable Sensors and Systems for Wound Healing-Related pHand Temperature Detection

Wound healing is a delicate tissue regeneration procedure that entails numerous changes in various physiological parameters.

FREMONT, CA: Wearable sensors and systems refer to devices that can detect minute amounts of biological or chemical analytes and convert chemical reactions or physical changes into usable signals (optical or electrical signals, for example) following predefined rules. Wearable sensors/systems for monitoring markers in or around the wound environment can provide real-time symptom information and hold promise for therapy studies, which also meets the World Union of Wound Healing Societies’ requirement that “diagnostic tools be moved into the clinic or patient’s home to ensure optimal care is provided for patients with wounds.” Researchers have developed various wearable sensors/systems based on optical (fluorescence, colorimetry, etc.) or electrical (impedance, potentiometry, amperometry, etc.) mechanisms integrated with conventional wound dressings to form innovative wound dressings. These smart wound dressings convert changes in these biomarkers into visual or electrical signals, allowing for real-time monitoring of wound healing … read more

Nursing Skill Check: Wound Care Dressing Change

“Wound Care Dressing Change with Irrigation and Packing: Before beginning this procedure always perform the following steps to ensure patient safety. Perform hand hygiene, provide patient privacy, introduce yourself, use two patient identifiers, verify allergy status, perform environmental safety check, ensure proper body mechanics, gather all supplies, provide patient education. Assess the patient’s condition, including the dressing and wound, as well as the pain level. If needed, medicate with analgesic 30 minutes before procedure, if medication is to be given P O or IV. Explain the procedure to patient.

3M V.A.C.® Therapy vs Other NPWT: Understand What a Recent Large-Scale Economic Analysis Tells Us About Costs

When selecting an NPWT provider, it’s important to understand the costs associated with this decision, in addition to the clinical evidence.

In this webinar, you will hear from the author of a recent large-scale retrospective financial analysis titled, “Comparison of Healthcare Costs Associated With Patients Receiving Traditional Negative Pressure Wound Therapies in the Post-Acute Setting.”

The participants in this webinar will:

  • Learn some of the latest real-world data comparing 3M V.A.C.® therapy with other NPWT, including a comparison of
    • Total costs to treat
    • Wound-related costs
    • Average length of therapy

View webinar start time in your timezone

Innovation Technology in Pressure Injury Prevention – PODCAST

Hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) represent a significant source of morbidity, mortality, and cost burden. In this podcast, Laura Swoboda, DNP, APNP, FNP-C, CWOCN-AP, discusses a new, innovative technology called Leaf, the wearable patient monitoring device for pressure injury prevention …. listen

Wound Bed Preparation Best Practices: Optimizing the Wound For Closure

Wound bed preparation is an important component of wound management. Gaps in knowledge of how and why to prepare a wound bed properly for conventional or advanced wound care modalities may delay or impede healing outcomes. This presentation will describe how to prepare a wound bed properly to allow for optimal healing. It will define the term “wound bed preparation” and how it can aid in the management of tissue necrosis and maintain a proper bioburden balance of the wound’s environment. The concept of “TIME” will be used to evaluate a wound’s readiness to progress into the healing phases. The healing phases of hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation will be reviewed, and the focus of each phase when preparing the wound bed for treatment will also be discussed. The presentation will conclude by outlining methods of preparing a wound bed for conventional or advanced treatment modalities, including “BEAMS” debridement methods, conventional and advanced dressings, cellular products, and wound vacuum application … Register Now

Watch Jenny Hurlow’s Report on the Treatment Plan (57-year-old woman who presented with a suspected insect bite)

My goal of care with this six‑week‑old wound on this very anxious patient was to support healing while limiting aggressive debridement to try to mitigate her anxiety. Therefore, the wound hygiene protocol was initiated … I first cleanse the full wound area, including the peri-ulcer skin, with a noncytotoxic antiseptic wound cleanser. Then, I sharply debrided that hard, a sharp cap that you see, and dry fatty necrosis as tolerated by the patient … Then, I refashion the rolled wound edges by abrading the epidermis to promote flattening of the epiboly. Then, I ordered daily dressing changes within an enzymatic debrider … The wound hygiene treatment protocol promotes attention to all aspects of a wound’s healing … read more

DECELLULARISED DERMIS ALLOGRAFT FOR THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC VENOUS LEG ULCERATION STUDY – RECRUITING ADDITIONAL SITES

Imperial College London are conducting the DAVE study, an RCT to determine whether the use of a decellularised dermis (DCD) allograft in addition to compression therapy, promotes healing in chronic venous leg ulceration compared to compression therapy alone. Participants will be randomised to either compression therapy alone or DCD in addition to compression. Click here to read the study summary for more information.

The study, led by Professor Alun Davies, is being conducted across a number of secondary care sites in the UK. As study recruitment has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the team are now looking to identify additional secondary care sites to recruit to this NIHR portfolio study. Owing to the impact of COVID-19, the team fully understand that potential sites may not be able to proceed with set-up until the latter part of 2021 and are happy to commence discussions in the meantime.

For more information and to find out how you can be part of this important collaboration, please contact Francine Heatley (Trial Manager) at  f.heatley@imperial.ac.uk

Refractory Wounds: Systemic Factors Affecting Repair – Iatrogenic Factors (Part 3 of 4)

Refractory wounds are a significant worldwide health problem, affecting 5 to 7 million people per year in the United States alone, as discussed in previous blogs (Part 1, Part 2). Wounds that fail to heal not only impact quality of life, but also impose a significant physical, psychosocial, and financial burden. Additionally, individuals with refractory wounds often experience significant morbidity, and sometimes mortality. Wound infections and amputations are common in this population, and chronic conditions often exist as well … read more

Timolol may be inexpensive, effective wound treatment

Timolol may be an effective and inexpensive treatment for wound healing, according to a poster presented at AAD VMX 2021 … “Timolol may function at multiple levels to enhance wound healing, including through increased angiogenesis, fibroblast function and reepithelization,” Angelina S. Hwang, BS, of Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote … The single-center retrospective study included 33 patients with a mean age of 68.8 years whose wounds were treated with timolol, a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist. Treatment occurred in the department of dermatology at Mayo Clinic Arizona between January 2014 and November 201 … read more

A Preliminary Exploration of the Efficacy of Gentamicin Sponges in the Prevention and Treatment of Wound Infections

Gentamicin sponges, implantable topical antibiotic agents, are approved for surgical implantation in 54 countries. Since 1985, more than one million patients have been treated with these sponges.1–3 However, despite having been studied for over 30 years, their effectiveness is still disputed … Han et al have found that applying gentamicin-impregnated sponges during spinal operations significantly decreases surgical-site infection (SSI).4 Chang et al have conducted a meta-analysis encompassing 15 randomized control trials and also concluded that gentamicin sponges decrease the rate of SSI.5 Schimmer et al have used a controlled, prospective, randomized double-blind study to investigate the efficacy of gentamicin sponges in sternal wound complications after heart surgery. They enrolled 720 patients and found that gentamicin sponges effectively reduce infection complications … However, several other studies have demonstrated that gentamicin-impregnated sponges cannot reduce SSI, and some researchers have even proposed that the sponges increase the risk of infection. Wouthuyzen-Bakker et al have discussed the efficacy of applying gentamicin-impregnated sponges locally during debridement in early acute periprosthetic joint infections. They found that their application does not reduce the incidence … read more

Why We Depend on One Another in Wound Care

July means different things to different people for different reasons. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the month of July represented the first real month of summer. It signaled the end of the school year, and it was time to have fun. After college graduation, the first day of July for medical students correlates with the first day of medical school classes, and for senior medical students, the beginning of most medical residency programs. This first day of summer can be wrought with both excitement and fear … Prior to starting medical school, I spent the month of June shadowing an emergency room physician at the Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine at the Hershey Medical Center … read more

Usefulness of Procalcitonin in Diagnosing Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis: A Pilot Study

Infected diabetic foot is the leading cause of hospital admissions for people with diabetes mellitus. Diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO) causes high morbidity and significant mortality. Current diagnostic tests for DFO are either expensive, invasive, or of low diagnostic yield. Objective. The objective of the study was to determine whether serum levels of procalcitonin (PCT), an inflammatory marker, differ between DFO and diabetic foot ulcers without osteomyelitis (ie, cellulitis) as controls. The authors also aimed to assess the usefulness of PCT in diagnosing DFO. Methods. A case-control study was designed comparing DFO with diabetic foot cellulitis as the control. Patients were classified as having osteomyelitis and cellulitis based on the International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot diagnostic criteria. Serum inflammatory markers PCT, adiponectin, C-reactive protein-1, osteoprotegerin (OPG), osteopontin (OPN), and interleukin … read more

The Predictive Value of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet-to-Lymphocyte Ratio Levels of Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

As defective insulin secretion or impaired biological function, chronic hyperglycemia can cause damage to various tissues and systems, especially eyes, kidneys, blood vessels and nerves.1 Most diabetes patients can be divided into two types. Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), due to the absolute lack of insulin secretion, can usually be identified by serological evidence and genetic markers of islet autoimmunity. Abnormal inflammation and immune responses are associated with the development of T1DM. Recent study have shown that innate immunity and inflammatory mediators play an important and wide-ranging roles, possibly inhibiting β-cell function,2 promoting subsequent apoptotic processes, and leading to insulin resistance in surrounding tissues … read more

New Study Demonstrates Significantly Increased Healing Rates with NATROX® Oxygen Wound Therapy

Inotec sponsored the study to investigate the impact of NATROX® on previously non healing DFUs. Held across 19 sites in the USA, the trial involved 145 patients with 54% over age 65. The study’s Principal Investigator, Dr. Thomas Serena, is an internationally recognized expert in wound healing. Dr. Serena is former President of the American Professional Wound Care Association and currently CEO of the SerenaGroup®, a leading provider of wound care. Eligible patients had a chronic wound for an average of 23-24 weeks before entering the 12-week therapy period, and over half the participants in the NATROX® group had a history of prior amputation. It is worth noting, the study continuing despite new COVID-19 protocols indicates the ease and simplicity of treatment … read more

High Levels of Oxidative Stress and Skin Microbiome are Critical for Initiation and Development of Chronic Wounds in Diabetic Mice

A balanced redox state is critical for proper healing. Although human chronic wounds are characterized by high levels of oxidative stress (OS), whether OS levels are critical for chronic wound development is not known. For these studies, we used our chronic wound model in diabetic mice that has similar characteristics as human chronic wounds, including naturally developed biofilm. We hypothesize that OS levels in wound tissues are critical for chronic wound initiation and development. We show that increased OS levels in the wound correlate with increased chronicity. Moreover, without increased OS levels, biofilm taken from chronic wounds and placed in new excision wounds do not create chronic wounds. Similarly, high OS levels in the wound tissue in the absence of the skin microbiome do not lead to chronic wounds. These findings show that both high OS levels and bacteria are needed for chronic wound initiation and development … read more

Bromelain-based enzymatic debridement of chronic wounds: Results of a multicentre randomized controlled trial

Chronic wounds are estimated to affect over 6 million people annually in the United States with an estimated annual cost of $25 billion. Debridement represents a key step in their management and is considered a basic necessity to induce the functional process of tissue repair. However, there is an unmet need for an efficient rapid acting non-surgical debridement agent. Bromelain-based enzymatic debridement has been proven to provide an effective, selective and safe non-surgical debridement in deep burns. EscharEx (MediWound Ltd, Yavne, Israel), is a bromelain-based enzymatic debridement agent currently in development for chronic wounds. The aim of this study was to assess its safety and efficacy in chronic wounds. Seventy-three patients suffering from a lower extremity ulcer of diabetic/venous insufficiency/post-surgical/traumatic aetiology were enrolled in a multicentre … read more

NEW! APWCA/ASWC WEBCAST SERIES RELEASED

In the first webcast, Elizabeth Faust, MSN, CRNP, CSWS, CWOCN-AP, DAPWCA, of the American Professional Wound Care Association interviews three leaders of the World Council of Enterostomal Therapists (WCET) on their recent article about the International Ostomy Guideline 2020. The discussion includes the inception of the guideline, the extensive work that went into creating a guideline suitable for resource-limited and resource-abundant countries, key takeaways for various members of the healthcare team, and the importance of preoperative education and stoma site marking. Be sure to watch all the way to the end for a big announcement from the WCET.

EB-101 Healed Wounds, Eased Pain Up to Six Years in Trial

Treatment with Abeona Therapeutics‘‘ investigational cell therapy EB-101 led to successful wound healing and eased pain in seven adults with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) who were followed for up to six years in a clinical trial … “The updated Phase 1/2a results showed safety and durable efficacy follow up, with EB-101 treated wounds continuing to show a considerable reduction in both wound burden and associated long-term pain for up to six years,” Vishwas Seshadri, PhD, head of research and clinical development at Abeona, said in a press release.

Wearable Sensor Measures Light Emission on Skin to Monitor Tissue Oxygenation

Researchers have combined an oxygen-sensing film and machine learning to create a wearable sensor capable of measuring tissue oxygenation through a person’s skin. Developed by researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, the sensor works by detecting the phosphorescence lifetime and intensity of the acrylic oxygen-sensing film that adheres to the skin … The researchers said that the wireless sensor can monitor oxygen levels on a continuous basis and is easy to operate, making it suitable for remotely monitoring oxygen levels outside of health care settings … –

Essity joins United Nations Foundation expert group in tackling antimicrobial resistance

Hygiene and health company Essity expands its partnership with United Nations (UN) Foundation by joining a cross-industry group that brings together corporate experts in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Essity is a global provider of hand hygiene and wound care solutions, essentials in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, one of the greatest global public health threats predicted to be responsible for 10 million annual deaths worldwide by 20501. Essity has been a partner to the United Nations Foundation since 2017 … read more

Abeona Therapeutics Announces Updated EB-101 Phase 1/2a Clinical Results in Recessive …

Abeona Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: ABEO), a fully-integrated leader in gene and cell therapy, today announced updated Phase 1/2a clinical trial results up to six years following treatment with Abeona’s investigational EB-101 for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). The data showed that investigator assessment of wound healing of 50% or greater from baseline was present in 69% of treated wounds (n=18/26) at 3 years, 93% (n=14/15) at 4 years, 80% (n=12/15) at 5 years, and 80% (n=4/5) at 6 years. The results were reported in a poster, titled “Long-Term Healing, Pain Reduction, and Patient-Reported Outcomes in Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Following EB-101 Treatment of Large, Chronic Wounds,” at the Society for Pediatric Dermatology (SPD) 46th Annual Meeting … read more

Impact of repeated remote ischemic conditioning on diabetic foot ulcers: A proof-of-concept study

Patients with a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) suffer disabilities and are at increased risk for lower extremity amputation. Current standard of care includes debridement, topical antibiotics, and weight off-loading—still resulting in low rates of healing. Previous small-scale research has indicated that repeated remote ischemic conditioning (rRIC) is a novel modality that delivers significantly higher DFU healing rates. This proof-of-concept study was performed to expand the research on the utility of rRIC as an adjunctive treatment in the healing of chronic DFUs. Forty subjects (41 wounds) received rRIC treatment three times weekly in addition to standard of care for 12 weeks. Subjects that did not heal in this time frame but had a significant reduction in wound size were eligible to continue for an 8-week extension period. By the end of the extension period, 31 of the 41 DFU wounds (75.6%) in this study were determined to be healed. This compares favourably to the 25–30% standard of care average healing rate … read more

Dissemination of microbiota between wounds and the beds of patients with pressure injuries: a cross-sectional study

Pressure injuries (PIs) are localised injuries to the skin and/or underlying tissue caused by sustained pressure1, with a reported prevalence of 9–14.5% in the elder care setting2–4. Although their prevalence is declining due to advances in prevention and treatment5, up to 30% of PIs develop infections, which is a life-threatening complication6–8. Therefore, controlling wound infections is a crucial intervention after the development of PIs … Most patients with PIs are compromised hosts due to old age and malnutrition. Thus, treatment directed at improving the overall condition of the patient (e.g., nutritional support) is provided to treat those with PIs. Additionally, breaking the route of transmission of bacteria by using dressings is recommended … read more

Diabetic foot ulcer, the effect of resource-poor environments on healing time and direct cost: A cohort study during Syrian crisis

This study was intended to assess the healing time of diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) during what is considered one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century. Researchers examined 1,747 DFUs from the main diabetic foot clinic in Damascus (2014-2019). They conducted SINBAD Classification to grade the severity of ulcers. This study’s findings demonstrate that the environment with resource-poor settings should be added to the traditional risk factors that delay the healing of DFUs for months or even years. There is a need for more studies to analyze low-cost materials that could be cost-effective in applying standard care to the diabetic foot … read more

A Novel Method to Offload Neuropathic Ulcers of the Distal Phalanges in the Presence of First Ray Metatarsal Hypermobility

The standard practice to heal neuropathic ulcers on the toes is to offload the affected areas with special types of therapeutic footwear including shoes and boots to reduce the amount of pressure on the wound. Once healed, the individual wears custom insoles to prevent the development of new wounds. In our practice, we found that some newly healed wounds will reulcerate despite wearing therapeutic footwear. We devised a method to prevent and offload neuropathic foot ulcers on the distal phalanges in the presence of first ray metatarsal hypermobility, a common problem associated with the development of wounds … read more

CMS Assigns APC Reimbursement Code for Kent Imaging’s SnapshotNIR® for Non-Invasive Near-Infrared Imaging Services

Kent Imaging Inc., a leading innovator of medical technology, is pleased to announce that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released claims submission guidelines for CPT® Codes 0640T-0642T as referenced in the MLN Matters MM12289 … CPT Codes 0640T-0642T are a family of Category III codes specific to SnapshotNIR for non-contact, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy studies of flap or wound for image acquisition, interpretation, and reporting. The codes 0640T and 0642T which include a component on image interpretation, have been classified as reimbursable at the discretion of the payor based on medical necessity. The code 0641T, a procedural code for image capture, was assigned to the APC grouper code 5732 for utilization by outpatient facilities … read more

When Should I Perform Point-of-Care Fluorescence Imaging of Wound Bioburden? Guidelines Based on Delphi Consensus

Bacteria and biofilm plague chronic wounds, impair the healing process, and can increase the risk of infection and antibiotic overprescribing. Fluorescence imaging of bacterial burden (MolecuLight i:X) is the only point-of-care solution to visualize the presence of significant bacterial burden in wounds. This information, when added to standard of care, supports informed clinical decision making and more proactive bacterial management practices. This point-of-care imaging technology is quickly becoming a standard in wound care … View webinar start time in your timezone.

EB Affects All Aspects of Daily Life, Patients Say in Interview Study

Ways to improve the quality of life for people with epidermolysis bullosa (EB) are needed, as those living with the disorder report a range of psychological and social impacts … In a series of interviews, a group of children and young adults with EB described their disease as significantly affecting daily life and interactions at school, within the family, and in society at large … Findings are detailed in the study “Psychosocial impact of epidermolysis bullosa on patients: A qualitative study,” published in the journal Pediatric Dermatology … read more

What are the Benefits of Moist Wound Healing?

The process of keeping a wound in an optimally moist environment to aid faster healing is known as moist wound healing. According to studies, the moist wound heals faster than the wounds allowed to dry out … Studies have demonstrated that moist wound healing is more beneficial than treating wounds in a dry environment, and clinical data has backed this up for years. Since a moist environment keeps new skin cells alive and encourages cell renewal, moist wound healing has been demonstrated to enhance re-epithelialization and can result in a reduction of scar formation … In addition, treating wounds in a moist environment looks promising for generating a microenvironment that promotes regenerative healing without the formation of scars. Clinicians frequently choose dressings that establish and regulate a moist wound environment for these reasons … read more

The Role of Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pressure Injury Prevention

Physical and occupational therapists are not always thought of when it comes to pressure injury prevention; however, their training and knowledge makes them key players in the interprofessional team. Pressure injuries are costly medical issues that can impact a patient’s ability to rehabilitate. Therapists need to understand the causes of pressure injuries to help reduce a patient’s risk. Nursing uses risk assessment instruments to identify patients who are risk for developing a pressure injury. Many of the elements that therapists address in an evaluation and daily treatment are those that are also being addressed in the risk assessment instruments. This article provides an overview to help therapists recognize ways to incorporate pressure injury prevention into their evaluation and daily practice and effectively communicate with other health care professionals … read more

Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Management Strategies of Neonatal Wound Care

Guidelines for neonatal skin care are scarce, and there is no consensus on the best management practices for neonatal skin breakdown. This review presents the pathology and phases of wound healing, reasons for neonatal skin fragility, and approaches to recognition of commonly encountered neonatal wounds. This review also provides general strategies for neonatal wound prevention, care, dressing, and management to avoid further damage to the fragile neonatal skin. The importance and role of retaining moisture in expediting wound healing is discussed, as well as updated classifications on how to grade and assess pressure ulcers and the role of negative pressure wound therapy and silver dressings. Lastly, this review discusses prevention and treatment options for surgical wounds, intravenous extravasation wounds, congenital wounds, and thermal injuries, in addition to how to differentiate these wounds from the common diaper dermatitis and contact dermatitis … read more

Thermal Imaging Offers Early Alert for Chronic Wound Care

New research shows thermal imaging techniques can predict whether a wound needs extra management, offering an early alert system to improve chronic wound care … It is estimated that 1-2% of the population will experience a chronic wound during their lifetime in developed countries. In the U.S., chronic wounds affect about 6.5 million patients with more than $25 billion each year spent by the healthcare system on treating related complications … read more

THE COST OF DIABETIC FOOT ULCERS

The annual cost of diabetes is tremendously expensive; according to the American Diabetes Association, it was $245 billion in 2012.1 While nearly $70 billion of this figure was associated with reduced workforce productivity, the remaining $176 billion occurred as excess healthcare expenditures.1 These costs can, in turn, be divided into those associated with treatment of the disease itself, those associated with chronic complications of diabetes, and those native to O&P professional interests: foot ulcers … read more

Lack of access to vascular specialists creates major disparities in amputation rates across the USA

Speaking on current trends in amputation rates with critical limb-threatening ischaemia (CLTI) patients, Misty Humphries (Sacramento, USA) tells Vascular News that while Medicare data shows that amputation rates are decreasing across the USA overall, there are “certain geographical areas” that have high rates, with many of these “located in the south” or in regions that “may not have vascular specialists” … “The disparities that we see in my research I believe are truly access-based,” says Humphries, further drilling down to emphasise health insurance, time and other factors such as appropriate preventive care measures that come into play contributing to the increased risk of amputation … read more

Optimising wound care through patient engagement

Patient engagement is a crucial and timely topic, both in terms of wound healing (and, in some cases, symptom management), and in improving individuals’ experiences of the process. This document aims to provide clear guidance in listening and engaging with individuals, and thus optimising the care experience for all key stakeholders, of which the patient is the most important. The document was developed with input from both healthcare professionals and individuals using healthcare services … read more

The Annual Scientific Meeting (The National) is coming to Denver, July 29–August 1

Get ready to explore new frontiers with APMA in 2021! The Annual Scientific Meeting (The National) is coming to Denver, July 29–August 1. The must-attend meeting for every podiatrist will offer attendees up to 29.5 CECH with a diverse educational program touching on all aspects of foot and ankle surgery and medicine.

At this point in time APMA is closely monitoring the COVID public health crisis and preparing for multiple scenarios. We hope to see our attendees in person for four days of learning and networking. However, given the uncertainty of the situation and recognizing the need to accommodate everyone’s personal level of comfort, we are planning a hybrid event that will allow virtual attendees to concurrently stream the event.

Check out the preliminary program, and watch your APMA publications for more information. Registration for The National is now open.

A Collaborative Call for Changes in Reimbursement Policies for pressure injury

A Collaborative Call for Changes in Reimbursement Policies for pressure injury coauthored by leadership from NPIAP, AAWC and WOCN has been published in the Journal of Patient Safety.

This paper examines reimbursements to improve pressure injury prevention for
CMSGov.

  1. Capitated payment for prevention bundles
  2. Deferred payments for safe discharge
  3. Equal sided risk mode that rewards good performance

Read the full paper here

Advanced Wound Dressings with Integrated Healing Sensors

These antimicrobial, multifunctional dressings include fluorescent sensors that glow brightly when exposed to UV light on the onset of infection and can be used for monitoring the healing process … A research team from RMIT University has developed smart dressings that manipulate the potent antifungal and antibacterial properties of magnesium hydroxide. When compared to silver-based dressing, the smart dressings can be produced cost-effectively but are equally effective in fighting fungi and bacteria, thanks to their antimicrobial power that lasts up to a week … read more

Thermal imaging offers early alert for chronic wound care

New research shows thermal imaging techniques can predict whether a wound needs extra management, offering an early alert system to improve chronic wound care … It is estimated that 1-2% of the population will experience a chronic wound during their lifetime in developed countries – in the US, chronic wounds affect about 6.5 million patients with more than US$25 billion each year spent by the healthcare system on treating related complications … The Australian study shows textural analysis of thermal images of venous leg ulcers (VLUs) can detect whether a wound needs extra management as early as week two for clients receiving treatment at home … read more

When Should I Perform Point-of-Care Fluorescence Imaging of Wound Bioburden? (webinar)

Bacteria and biofilm plague chronic wounds, impair the healing process, and can increase the risk of infection and antibiotic overprescribing. Fluorescence imaging of bacterial burden (MolecuLight i:X) is the only point-of-care solution to visualize the presence of significant bacterial burden in wounds. This information, when added to standard of care, supports informed clinical decision making and more proactive bacterial management practices. This point-of-care imaging technology is quickly becoming a standard in wound care … View webinar start time in your timezone

Pandemic leads to changes in delivery of care for diabetic foot infections

The COVID-19 pandemic led to early disruptions in diabetic foot care during lockdowns, and cases of diabetes-associated foot infections increased after lockdowns were lifted, according to a speaker … Brian Schmidt, DPM, an assistant professor of internal medicine in the division of metabolism, endocrinology and diabetes at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, said during a virtual presentation at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions that poor messaging at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic may have kept many patients with diabetic foot conditions from contacting providers about complications, leading to increases in infections after stay-at-home orders were lifted … read more

Next Science Product Featured in Lifetime Channel Program on Treating Chronic Wounds

Next Science (ASX:NXS), an innovative medical technology company and leader in treating biofilm-based infections in humans, today announced new educational broadcast content about chronic infections, which impact 17 million Americans each year. “The Balancing Act,” a lifestyle show that airs on the Lifetime channel, will feature a segment that discusses the costly and debilitating nature of these infections and how physicians can more effectively treat patients suffering from chronic wounds, including diabetic wounds, by using BLASTX, Next Science’s antimicrobial wound gel … In addition to treating diabetic foot and leg ulcers, BLASTX can also be used for stage I-V pressure ulcers, partial- and full-thickness wounds, post-surgical wounds, first and second degree burns, and grafted and donor sites. BLASTX, which uses Next Science’s patented XBIO® Technology, which physically deconstructs the protective shell over the bacterial biofilm matrix, destroys bacteria within the gel and defends from recolonization while maintaining a moist wound environment. BLASTX is non-toxic and lasts up to five days … read more

Decreased Physiological Serum Total Bile Acid Concentrations in Patients with Type 2 Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), one of the most frequent diabetic microvascular complications, is characterized by symmetrical, bilateral distal motor and predominantly sensory abnormality, starting distally and gradually spreading proximally in a glove-and-stocking distribution. It is estimated that DPN would affect approximately 50% in those with over 10 years’ duration.1 DPN has been reported to lead to neuropathic pain, diabetic foot ulcers and lower-limb amputations, all of which contribute to a substantial effect on patient’s quality of life and a significant financial burden. However, other than improving glycemic control, there is no licensed pathogenetic treatment for DPN. Therefore, it would be of great importance if a simple, inexpensive, and reliable indicator is available for the early identification and management of individuals at high risk for DPN in clinical settings, and further effective strategies are formulated to prevent its development and progression … read more

Tips for providing diabetes foot care through telemedicine

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, foot evaluations — including wound debridement, off-loading, radiographs, dressing recommendations and infection control — required in-person visits. With the pandemic closing clinics and canceling hospital services, providers had to explore different ways to continue monitoring people in need of diabetic foot care … At the University of Southern California, providers were forced to make a rapid shift to telemedicine when COVID-19 stay-at-home orders began. In the 6 weeks before the pandemic, all patient contacts for diabetes foot care took place through clinic visits. In the first 6 weeks after COVID-19 lockdowns … read more

Pandemic Underlines Importance of Alternative Support Surfaces in Pressure Wound Care

Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries (HAPIs) – long a major healthcare problem for hospitalized patients – have the potential to increase with the increasing amount of patients requiring ICU care due to COVID-19. Regardless of primary diagnosis, when immobility, pressure, friction, shear, poor nutrition, and poor profusion plague the hospitalized patient, HAPIs often occur. Each year, more than 2.5 million patients suffer from these injuries, costing the U.S. healthcare system anywhere from $9.1 – 11.6 billion annually … read more

Healogics® Receives Accreditation from American Nurses Credentialing Center

Healogics®, the nation’s leading provider of world-class wound care, is proud to announce its accreditation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) …The ANCC Accreditation Program identifies organizations that exhibit excellence in Nursing Continuing Professional Development (NCPD). In order to be awarded accreditation, rigorous standards must be met for providing continuing professional development to registered nurses. Healogics earned this distinction by promoting excellence in nursing and patient safety, and providing nurses with the knowledge and skills to help improve care and patient outcomes … “We are proud to achieve the highly regarded Accreditation from ANCC,” said Healogics Vice President of Clinical and Quality Process Excellence, Carolyn M. Shinn … Healogics nurses will have the opportunity to participate in the highest level of education to meet certification or licensure requirements, as ANCC-accredited continuing education is the most impressive and viable strategy in improving professional nursing practice … read more

From the Editors’ Desk

Over the last year, COVID-19 has forced healthcare professionals to rapidly change the way they think and practice. This includes quickly assessing patients and reevaluating clinical situations with new eyes for optimal resource utilization and effective patient care options. Some facilities have reassigned professional personnel, and the entire industry has had to rethink traditional clinical paradigms … read more

Dr. Alisa Savetamal Presents the Health Economics of Allograft VS

In this webinar Alisa Savetamal, MD FACS will present the health economics of allograft vs. NovoSorb BTM. She will review two patients with full thickness injuries to both legs. Each patient received serial allograft applications on one leg and BTM on the other. This presentation will review the economics of the entire patient experience including product cost, repeat OR cost, impact on the surgeon, and impact on the patient throughout the healing process. This presentation was originally scheduled during ABA 2020 … read more

New research a ‘step change’ for diabetes patients

Millions of people with diabetes are at risk of developing foot ulcers, which often lead to amputations and other health complications. Now, Scientists from the Centre for Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Technologies (CRBT) have developed a new method to reliably detect this risk without the need for complex electronic in-shoe sensors … read more

How can we deliver oxygen to wounds?

How does oxygen work in wound healing? We are all familiar with how necessary oxygen is for life in general. A few minutes of holding your breath (if you can last that long) proves the point quickly. We are taught the basics of how oxygen is important for essential processes such as energy conversion in the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) cycle, yet not typically processes in which oxygen plays a critical role in wound healing … read more

New Feature in Wound Care Software Fills Patients’ Shopping Carts with Physician-Recommended Nutrition

Wound care physicians often struggle to ensure patients receive the proper nutrition to accelerate wound healing. Intellicure is fighting that struggle by providing physicians unique tools that place recommended nutritional supplements in the hands of patients … Intellicure already automated the prescribing and ordering of medications and durable medical equipment inside its wound care EHR and its recently released SMART wound care app. However, certain nutritional supplements that are clinically proven to support wound management in some patients are sold over the counter. Often these supplement names and quantities are written down for the patient to purchase on their own time, leaving the physician to wonder if the patient ordered the correct products and quantities needed for a speedy recovery … read more

Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) in the Microbiological Diagnostic of Deep Sternal Wound Infection (DSWI)

Postoperative mediastinitis after cardiac surgery is still a devastating complication. Insufficient microbiological specimens obtained by superficial swabbing may only detect bacteria on the surface, but pathogens that are localized in the deep tissue may be missed. The aim of this study was to analyze deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) samples by conventional microbiological procedures and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in order to discuss a diagnostic benefit of the culture-independent methods and to map spatial organization of pathogens and microbial biofilms in the wounds … –

Swift Medical launches integrated digital wound care solution with Homecare Homebase

Homecare Homebase (HCHB), the nation’s #1 software for home health and hospice, is partnering with global digital wound care leader Swift Medical to provide high-quality, cost efficient care through an integrated solution. Through this expanded partnership, Swift Medical becomes the exclusively preferred wound care technology partner for HCHB, with an enhanced integration offering to streamline workflows and eliminate double documentation … read more

Debridement

In the English language, the word debridement is used in the specific sense of cleaning a wound of infected, potentially infected, necrotic (dead), eschar (Figure 1), or foreign material (such as fragments of old dressings). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the word is not used in any other context in English. The word debridement comes from the French language and is even pronounced in English as a French word (de-breed-ment), where it means taking a bridle (the head straps that hold the mouthpiece in place) off a horse … read more

Negative pressure wound therapy for open traumatic wounds

Traumatic wounds (wounds caused by injury) range from abrasions and minor skin incisions or tears, to wounds with extensive tissue damage or loss as well as damage to bone and internal organs. Two key types of traumatic wounds considered in this review are those that damage soft tissue only and those that involve a broken bone, that is, open fractures. In some cases these wounds are left open and negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is used as a treatment. This medical device involves the application of a wound dressing through which negative pressure is applied and tissue fluid drawn away from the area. The treatment aims to support wound management, to prepare wounds for further surgery, to reduce the risk of infection and potentially to reduce time to healing … read more

Refractory Wounds: Systemic Factors Affecting Repair – Extrinsic Factors (Part 2 of 4)

Refractory wounds are a significant worldwide health problem, affecting 5 to 7 million people per year in the United States alone, as discussed in a prior blog. Wounds that fail to heal not only impact quality of life, but also impose a significant physical, psychosocial, and financial burden. Additionally, individuals with refractory wounds often experience significant morbidity and sometimes mortality. Wound infections and amputations are common in this population, and chronic conditions often exist as well … read more

A Compendium of Perspectives on Diabetes: A Challenge for Sustainable Health in the Modern Era

Diabetes is a chronic illness. Hyperglycemia is the characteristic of this disorder. Diabetes is a global crisis which affects the economy and health of all nations. Over the last decades, the number of individuals living with diabetes has significantly increased worldwide. Asia is a key epicenter of the emerging diabetes epidemic, with China and India the two nations having the highest number of diabetic people. Economic development, modernization, unhealthy diet, population aging, and sedentary lifestyles are the major factors responsible for the increasing diabetes epidemic. Diabetes is associated with several complications, and cardiovascular disease is the most important cause of morbidity and mortality among people with diabetes. These life-threatening problems can be prevented or delayed by proper management of diabetes. Lifestyle modification is an important factor to decrease the diabetes risk. The frequency of diabetic complications will rise if there is a lack of cost-effective and sustainable interventions. Hence, prevention of diabetes and its complications such as diabetic retinopathy and cardiovascular disease … read more

Wound Odor

Wound odor, also referred to as malodor, is typically the result of necrotic tissue or bacterial colonization in the wound bed. Certain dressings like hydrocolloids, also tend to produce a characteristic odor as a result of the chemical reaction that takes place between the dressing and wound exudate, causing odor. While not directly harmful to the patient, wound odor is often indicative of bioburden or other barriers to wound healing. In addition, the psychological effects of malodorous wounds on the patient, relatives, or caregiver can be significant … read more

2,000,000 TWO2 Treatments Milestone Reached as TWO2 Study Is Highlighted in Systemic Review of Topical Oxygen Therapies

“This is another enormous milestone for our company and a testament to the ease-of use and durable clinical efficacy of TWO2 therapy, as well as to the tenacity of our entire dedicated care team. AOTI is proud to have been able to help heal the Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Venous Leg Ulcers of so many high-risk patients safely at home. Effective homecare therapeutics, such as provided by TWO2, have become vital in maintaining continuity-of-care by caregivers for their patients, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Dr. Mike Griffiths, CEO and Medical Director of AOTI … read more

Refractory Wounds: Etiologic Factors and Management (a Four-Part Series)

Refractory wounds comprise a significant worldwide health problem, affecting 5 to 7 million people per year in the United States alone. Wounds that fail to heal not only impact quality of life but also impose a significant physical, psychosocial, and financial burden. Additionally, individuals with refractory wounds often experience significant morbidity and sometimes mortality. Wound infections and amputations are common in this population, and chronic conditions often exist as well … read more

Adding a Hypochlorous Acid-Preserved Wound Cleanser to the Pressure Injury Management Toolbox: A Case Series

Pressure injuries (PIs) can impair quality of life, and the goal of management is to create an optimal local wound healing environment. PIs can be difficult to manage and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Wound cleansing is a routine part of managing these wounds and can aid in the removal of exudate, debris, and contaminants.3 PIs located on the sacrum or ischium are at high risk of infection due to exposure to urine and feces; for these wounds, regular cleansing is extremely important … read more

A Rare Case of Invasive Keratinizing Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Foot

In general, there are three major types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Basal cell carcinoma is the most common primary skin cancer amongst these, and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common skin cancer. Sun-exposed areas are the most common site and mainly affect Caucasians. cSCC involving the lower leg and anogenital region have been more commonly associated with dark skin. It is of utmost importance to regularly monitor chronic wounds. The conversion from an ulcer to malignancy is usually a slow process and the exact pathogenesis is yet to be definitively known. It was Marjolin who, in 1827, first reported this process when he noted a malignant change in a chronic ulceration. cSCC is the most common secondary skin cancer noted to arise in chronic wounds, burn scars, trauma, and following radio necrosis … read more

Antibacterial Effect and Promoting of Skin Wound Healing After Infected with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus for the Novel Polyvinyl Nanoparticles

Wounds represent a serious, and often overlooked, health problem in the global world. Importantly, if left untreated, several complications arise including infection, amputation, and long-term morbidity. The wound treatment has placed a massive financial burden on the health-care system, with serious and disturbing consequences for the affected patients. The development of new treatments that enhance the wound healing process and prevent, or limit, scarring is needed. Impaired wound healing is characterized by a loss of synchronization of the molecular interactions required for skin tissue repair.4 Six million patients a year are affected by wounds, costing the health-care system an estimated $25 billion dollars. Wound infection is the most common impediment to wound healing, leading to increase the morbidity and mortality among patients … read more

Emerging Roles of Long Non-Coding RNAs in Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most widespread metabolic diseases in the world, and diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), as one of its chronic complications, not only causes a large amount of physiological and psychological pain to patients but also places a tremendous burden on the entire economy and society. Despite significant advances in knowledge on the mechanism and in the treatment of DFU, clinical practice is still not satisfactory, and our understanding of its cellular and molecular pathogenesis is far from complete. Fortunately, progress in studying the roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), which play important regulatory roles in the expression of genes at multiple levels, suggests that we can apply them in the early diagnosis and potential targeted intervention of DFU. In this review, we briefly summarize the current knowledge regarding the functional roles and potential mechanisms of reported lncRNAs in regulating DFU … read more

Wound Healing Activity of Opuntia ficus-indica Fixed Oil Formulated in a Self-Nanoemulsifying Formulation

Delayed wound healing represents a common health hazard. Traditional herbal products have been often utilized to promote wound contraction. The current study aimed at assessing the wound healing activity of Opuntia ficus-indica seed oil (OFI) and its self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (OFI-SNEDDS) formula in a rat model of full-thickness skin excision.
Methods: Based on droplet size, an optimized OFI-SNEDDS formula was prepared and used for subsequent evaluation. Wound healing activity of OFI and OFI-SNEDDS was studied in vivo.
Results: The optimized OFI-SNEDDS formula droplet size was 50.02 nm. The formula exhibited superior healing activities as compared to regular OFI seed oil-treated rats at day 14 of wounding. This effect was further confirmed by histopathological examinations of H&E and Masson’s Trichrome-stained skin sections. Moreover, OFI-SNEDDS showed the highest antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities as compared to OFI seed oil-treated animals. Both OFI and OFI-SNEDDS significantly enhanced hydroxyproline skin content and upregulated Col1A1 mRNA expression … read more

Hydrosurgical Debridement Use Associated With Decreased Surgical Site-Related Readmissions: A Retrospective Analysis

Debridement is the cornerstone of wound care management. It allows for the removal of fibrinous and necrotic debris from the wound bed as well as the reduction of bacterial bioburden, thus allowing for proper granulation and wound healing. Hydrosurgical debridement uses a controlled, high-pressure fluid jet to cut and remove necrotic debris, contaminants, and bacteria, thereby facilitating a potentially more aggressive debridement. Objective. The efficacy of this system was compared with that of other methods of debridement in reducing … read more

FDA clears Koya Medical’s Dayspring compression system for lower extremities

Koya Medical announced today that it has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its active compression therapy system Dayspring for the treatment of lymphoedema and venous diseases that impact lymphatic flow in the lower extremities. The company also announced the appointments of three veteran executives to its leadership team to support commercialisation … read more

Vital Role of Wound Care Imaging Technology in HealthTech

Wound care technology is digital, which corresponds to the digital distribution of medical records. Wound treatment documentation can now be uploaded to EHRs for unified treatment across all providers involved in a patient’s recovery process … Wound care is vital to the overall healthcare industry, clinicians, and patients. It is crucial to diagnose a wound with pinpoint accuracy and document healing, infection, and other important wound care parameters. Wound care imaging technology has been developed by innovators using technology and clinical knowledge … read more

First Patient Enrolled in Restrata® Randomized Controlled Trial

Acera Surgical, Inc. (Acera), a leading bioscience company developing and commercializing a portfolio of fully synthetic materials for regenerative medical applications, today announced its first patient enrollment in a clinical study evaluating Restrata, Acera’s leading wound care product, for the treatment of non-healing diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). The study will generate level 1 clinical evidence to support coverage and reimbursement from US health insurers for Restrata’s use in outpatient wound clinics and physician office settings … Non-healing foot ulcers are among the most debilitating outcomes affecting people with diabetes in the United States. Roughly 1 out of 3 people with diabetes will develop a foot ulcer over the course of their lifetime1. More than 50% of diabetic foot ulcers become infected, and roughly 20% of diabetic foot infections result in amputation. That means that almost every 20 seconds, a lower limb is amputated due to complications associated with diabetes2. In the United States, an estimated $237 billion is spent annually on direct costs for diabetes, and as much as one third of that will be spent to treat lower extremity complications3 … read more

2,000,000 TWO2 Treatments Milestone Reached as TWO2 Study Is Highlighted in Systemic Review of Topical Oxygen Therapies

“This is another enormous milestone for our company and a testament to the ease-of use and durable clinical efficacy of TWO2 therapy, as well as to the tenacity of our entire dedicated care team. AOTI is proud to have been able to help heal the Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Venous Leg Ulcers of so many high-risk patients safely at home. Effective homecare therapeutics, such as provided by TWO2, have become vital in maintaining continuity-of-care by caregivers for their patients, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic,” stated Dr. Mike Griffiths, CEO and Medical Director of AOTI … read more

Beating Biofilm Is Key to Fighting Surgical Infections

Health care is at a perilous crossroads. “[D]eaths from drug-resistant infections are set to skyrocket to over 10 million per year worldwide and could cost the global economy as much as $100 trillion by 2050,” a STATISTICA article reports. The same concerning fact is stressed by United States public health officials, who agree that “antimicrobial resistant pathogens (AMR) threaten everyone”.Both reports suggest a grim future of consequences from bacterial resistance, with U.S. officials believing AMR is occurring at a rate of more than 2.8 million antibiotic resistant infections in the U.S. each year, ending in a heavy economic price and over 35,000 deaths annually. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes “no one can completely avoid the risk of resistant infections, with some people at greater risk than others.” Eye-opening research suggests at least 80% of these infections are biofilm related … read more

Wound-specific Bacteria May Be Targets for DEB Treatment

A distinct set of bacteria colonizes the skin in and around wounds in people with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB), according to a new study … The finding suggests that these patients may benefit from therapies that specifically target those bacteria and that encourage the growth of non wound-associated bacteria instead … The study, “Evidence for cutaneous dysbiosis in dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa,” was published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology … read more

Breaking the Barrier: An Innovative Approach to Mature Biofilm

Addressing skin and wound bioburden is of utmost importance to wound care clinicians. The tendency of microorganisms to develop biofilms within a wound has been well documented in the literature. A recent meta-analysis underscored the presence of biofilm in 78.2% of chronic wounds. Biofilms may lead to chronic infection and impact wound healing by perpetuation of the inflammatory phase. Contrasting with free-floating, acutely infectious planktonic microorganisms, a biofilm is an aggregated colony of bacteria, usually of multiple species, that produces a protective EPS and establishes its own microenvironment that is conducive to survival. The biofilm and its surrounding EPS mature over time … read more

Factors Associated With Healing of Diabetes-Related Foot Ulcers: Observations From a Large Prospective Real-World Cohort

Diabetes-related foot ulcers (DFUs) affect around 20 million people annually and are a leading cause of the global disability burden (1). DFUs are complex to treat, take months to heal, result in poorer quality of life, and place patients at high risk of hospitalization and amputation. Thus, understanding the influence that different factors have on healing of DFUs is vital … read more

A new approach to understanding the biology of wound healing

Our bodies frequently heal wounds, like a cut or a scrape, on their own. However patients with diabetes, vascular disease, and skin disorders, sometimes have difficulty healing. This can lead to chronic wounds, which can severely impact quality of life. The management of chronic wounds is a major cost to healthcare systems, with the U.S alone spending an estimated 10-20 billion dollars per year. Still, we know very little about why some wounds become chronic, making it hard to develop effective therapeutics to promote healing. New research from Jefferson describes a novel way to sample the cells found at wounds – using discarded wound dressings. This non-invasive approach opens a window into the cellular composition of wounds, and an opportunity to identify characteristics of wounds likely to heal versus those that become chronic, as well as inform the development of targeted therapies … read more

The Foot & Ankle Treatment Center Joins Illinois Bone & Joint Institute

DES PLAINES, Ill., June 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Illinois Bone & Joint Institute (IBJI), the largest independent, physician-owned orthopedic practice in Illinois, welcomes Dr. Bruce Noxon and Dr. Paul Goodman, of The Foot & Ankle Treatment Center, to our practice as of June 1, 2021. Dr. Goodman and Dr. Noxon will continue to provide the same high-quality, affordable care for Glenview and the neighboring communities as they have for the last 22 years, now as part of the expert team of IBJI podiatrists and foot and ankle specialists … read more

AUSTRALIAN WOUND IRRIGATION DEVICE CLEARED BY FDA

On April 23, 2021, the FDA notified the company that its single step application wound irrigation solution, XPERIENCE No Rinse Antimicrobial Solution, has been 510(k) cleared in the U.S. for immediate distribution. The device was originally submitted to the FDA as MIS Solution but is now being marketed as XPERIENCE.

The company says the residual solution remains in the surgical site after closure and, “continues to help defend against pathogens for several hours, giving surgeons a simple and effective adjunct to help prevent surgical site and post-operative infections.” … read more

How Does Your Documentation Measure Up to Medicare Standards? Debridement 101

Information regarding coding, coverage, and payment is provided as a service to our readers. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy. However, HMP and the author do not represent, guarantee, or warranty that coding, coverage, and payment information is error-free and/or that payment will be received.

To our readers: This article is the beginning of a series of articles on proper documentation practices for wound care. In this series, I will discuss different topics in wound care documentation practices that I have seen in my travels and found to be insufficient in light … read more

Decreasing Pain and Increasing the Rate of Chronic Wound Closure With the Use of a Noninvasive Bioelectronic Medical Device: A Case Series

Chronic wounds are a source of significant morbidity. Medical and scientific efforts are ongoing to further therapeutic modalities improving pain scores and augmenting healing while decreasing complications and reducing the social and economic burden of wounds. Electrical current therapy, or electrical stimulation (ES), has been shown to decrease and modulate both acute and chronic pain; however, understanding of the role of ES in wound closure is limited. Objective. This single-center case series reports use of a topical ultrahigh frequency ES (UHF-ES) therapy to decrease wound pain and improve the rate of closure in difficult-to-heal wounds in 9 patients. Materials and Methods. Initially, each patient underwent individualized care of their chronic wounds for a minimum of 8 weeks … read more

Sensing technology to prevent diabetic foot ulcers

Innovative in-sole sensors will alert diabetic patients during excessive or extended activities that could trigger foot ulcers in a new system being developed at the University of Southampton … The Load Monitoring and Intervention System (LOMIS) processes real-time data from three directional force sensors and detects physical activities over extended periods of time in a five-metric dimensional risk model … Live risk alerts are communicated to patients through a connected App to mitigate the risk and dangers of ulceration and amputation … read more

New wound care best practice consensus document for pharmacy teams

DURING the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacists have increasingly played a key role as being the first point of contact for people with wounds, both chronic and acute. As the burden of wound care increases through the ageing population and with many people being reluctant to go into the hospital or primary care setting, this key role will continue to develop and grow … Now, a multidisciplinary group of experts, including a team from the University of Huddersfield’s Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention (ISIaIP), have been working in collaboration with Wounds UK … read more

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for chronic diabetic foot ulcers: An overview of systematic reviews

Researchers assessed clinical evidence of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the management of diabetic foot ulcers, via this overview of systematic reviews. They analyzed systematic reviews (SRs) assessing the impacts of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in individuals with diabetic foot ulcer. Inclusion criteria were fulfilled by 11 SRs/MAs. They found limited clinical evidence in favor of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the management of diabetic foot ulcers, routine application of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to all patients with diabetic foot ulcers, particularly those with non-ischemic diabetic foot ulcers, is not advised. Certain potential of hyperbaric oxygen therapy to promote ulcer healing as well as decrease amputation rate in patients with ischemic diabetic foot ulcers has been observed, but because these results are supported by low quality and small quantity of the SRs/MAs, widespread recommendations require high-quality studies with rigorous … read more

Development and validation of a clinical prediction rule for development of diabetic foot ulceration: an analysis of data from five cohort studies

Development of a CPR using individual participant data from four international cohort studies identified by systematic review, with validation in a fifth study. Development cohorts were from primary and secondary care foot clinics in Europe and the USA (n=8255, adults over 18 years old, with diabetes, ulcer free at recruitment). Using data from monofilament testing, presence/absence of pulses, and participant history of previous ulcer and/or amputation, we developed a simple CPR to predict who will develop a foot ulcer within 2 years of initial assessment and validated it in a fifth study (n=3324). The CPR’s performance was assessed with C-statistics, calibration slopes, calibration-in-the-large, and a net benefit analysis … read more

BD Launches Industry First Ready-to-Use Iodine-Based Surgical Irrigation System

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., May 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, announced today the availability of BD Surgiphor™ Sterile Wound Irrigation System, the first and only ready-to-use aqueous povidone-iodine (PVP-I) irrigation solution that mechanically loosens and removes wound debris . . . read more

RedDress Selected to Exhibit ActiGraft at Vizient Innovative Technology Exchange

RedDress has been selected to exhibit ActiGraft®, a wound solution that recreates the natural wound healing environment by utilizing the patient’s own blood, at the Vizient Innovative Technology Exchange. Vizient, Inc, the nation’s largest member-driven health care performance improvement company, will hold the Exchange virtually September 21-23, 2021 read more

VIVEX Biologics, Inc. Launches New Family of Allografts, VIAGENEX™

MIAMI, May 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — VIVEX Biologics, Inc., a leading regenerative medicine company specializing in the development of naturally sourced treatments, announced the launch of VIAGENEX™, a family of amniotic allografts processed to retain the inherent mechanical properties of amniotic tissue and rich supply of extracellular matrix, growth factors, and cytokines read more

Study Of The LimFlow System Demonstrates Sustained Amputation-Free Survival And Wound Healing In Patients With No-Option Chronic Limb-Threatening Ischemia

Paris, May 20, 2021 — LimFlow SA, a pioneer in the development of minimally-invasive technology for the treatment of chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI), a severe form of peripheral artery disease (PAD), today announced the publication of 12-month data from the full patient cohort in its PROMISE I study of the LimFlow Percutaneous Deep Vein Arterialization System in the Journal of Vascular Surgery. Results showed sustained positive outcomes for both amputation-free survival and wound healing. The minimally-invasive LimFlow System is designed to bypass blocked arteries in the leg and deliver oxygenated blood back into the foot via the veins in CLTI patients who are facing major amputation and have exhausted all other therapeutic options read more

Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc. Named Among the 10 Most Innovative MedTech Solution Providers to Watch in 2021

(https://thehealthcareinsights.com/advanced-oxygen--inc-dedicated-to-resolving-acute-and-chronic-wounds-through-its-unique-multi-modality-two2therapy/) how AOTI is dedicated to resolving acute and chronic wounds through its patented cyclical-pressure Topical Wound Oxygen (TWO2) therapy. Thereby providing clinically proven complete healing outcomes and wound protective care to high-risk patients safely at home. Maintaining such continuity-of-care has become even more vital during the recent COVID-19 pandemic read more

Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc. Named Among the 10 Most Innovative MedTech Solution Providers to Watch in 2021

OCEANSIDE, Calif., May 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc. (AOTI) announced today that it had been named among the 10 Most Innovative MedTech Solution Providers to Watch in 2021 by the journal The Healthcare Insights and is highlighted as the cover story of its May 2021 print edition … (https://thehealthcareinsights.com/advanced-oxygen-therapy-inc-dedicated-to-resolving-acute-and-chronic-wounds-through-its-unique-multi-modality-two2therapy/) details how AOTI is dedicated to resolving acute and chronic wounds through its patented cyclical-pressure Topical Wound Oxygen (TWO2) therapy. Thereby providing clinically proven complete healing outcomes and wound protective care to high-risk patients safely at home. Maintaining such continuity-of-care has become even more vital during the recent COVID-19 pandemic read more

A flexible multiplexed immunosensor for point-of-care in situ wound monitoring

Chronic wounds arise from interruption of normal healing due to many potential pathophysiological factors. Monitoring these multivariate factors can provide personalized diagnostic information for wound management, but current sensing technologies use complex laboratory tests or track a limited number of wound parameters. We report a flexible biosensing platform for multiplexed profiling of the wound microenvironment, inflammation, and infection state at the point of care. This platform integrates a sensor array for measuring inflammatory mediators [tumor necrosis factor read more

St. Louis Doctor Helps Patients Avoid Unnecessary Diabetic Amputations Using Minimally Invasive Procedure

ST. LOUIS, May 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — The Midwest Institute for Non-Surgical Therapy (MINT) is leading the way in providing early diagnosis and innovative treatments for St. Louis, Missouri, patients who suffer from vascular disease, greatly reducing the need for amputations … read more

Midwest Institute for Nonsurgical Therapy
Midwest Institute for Nonsurgical Therapy

Led by Dr. Goke Akinwande, a board-certified endovascular specialist, the Vascular Center at MINT is one of the few centers in St. Louis dedicated to the outpatient treatment of venous and arterial diseases. Since the Center opened in 2019, MINT has become a regional leader in preventing potentially life-threatening amputations among patients who suffer from diabetes. Dr. Akinwande and his team use innovative technology and non-surgical techniques to treat diabetic sores and prevent amputations.

Several prediction tools provide “objective” post-amputation outcome forecasts, but further work is needed

A recent systematic review and narrative synthesis has found several tools that demonstrate “acceptable-to-outstanding discrimination” for predicting key outcomes following major lower limb amputation. However, authors Ryan A Preece (Royal Gwent Hospital, Cardiff, UK) and colleagues note that “additional robust external validation” is needed to strengthen the clinical applicability of the prediction tools assessed. This research appeared online in the European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery (EJVES).

Can Topical Oxygen Have An Impact On DFU Healing?

Data continue to accumulate for some role of topical oxygen (TOT) in tissue repair and wound healing. A study from Golledge and colleagues in Australia reveals some interesting developments.1 Their systematic review and meta-analysis examined evidence for the benefit of topical oxygen therapy in healing diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) … read more

What to Do When Sharp Debridement is Contraindicated

Sharp debridement is by far the fastest way to remove non-viable tissue from a wound bed. This modality must be performed by a licensed skilled practitioner using sharp instruments or tools to remove unhealthy tissue. It is reimbursed by most payers when documentation and medical necessity support its use. There are times when sharp debridement is contraindicated, however. This blog reviews the contraindications and alternatives to sharp debridement … read more

Topical oxygen therapy in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: a multicentre, open, randomised controlled clinical trial

Perfusion and blood oxygen levels are frequently insufficient in patients with hard-to-heal wounds due to poor circulation, vascular disruption and vasoconstriction, reducing the wound’s capacity to heal. This study aimed to investigate the effect of topical oxygen on healing rates in patients with hard-to-heal diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) (i.e., non-responsive over four weeks) … read more

Army Wants New Medical Gel that Seals Off Hemorrhaging Wounds on the Battlefield

Army researchers are eyeing a promising new wound-care technology that could allow soldiers to seal hemorrhaging trauma wounds on parts of the body where pressure bandages can’t stop bleeding … The Army Research Laboratory, or ARL, is providing technical oversight on a new hemostatic gel, known as StatBond, that stops uncontrolled bleeding in noncompressible areas of the body such as the groin, armpit, neck and internal organs … read more

Sustainable fabric made from tree bark could cut MRSA infection rates

A traditional Ugandan cloth that uses tree bark to make sustainable textiles could be used to treat skin wounds after new research shows it has antimicrobial properties to fight against tough infections such as MRSA … MRSA—Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus—is an infection caused by bacteria that is resistant to many different antibiotics … continue

PolarityTE Announces Diabetic Foot Ulcer Trial Met Primary and Secondary Endpoint

PolarityTE, Inc. (Nasdaq: PTE) today announced preliminary topline data demonstrating that a multi-center randomized controlled trial evaluating treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers with SkinTE® plus standard of care (SOC) vs SOC alone (NCT03881254) met the primary endpoint of wound closure at 12 weeks and secondary endpoint of Percent Area Reduction (PAR) at 12 weeks. 100 patients were evaluated across 13 sites with 50 patients receiving SkinTE plus SOC and 50 patients receiving SOC alone … continue

Smart Socks? How This Tech Startup Is Targeting a Common Medical Problem

When Ran Ma told her parents she was dropping out of her master’s program in business administration to work on a sock prototype for diabetic patients, their reaction wasn’t exactly encouraging … “My dad said, ‘We’re not going to talk until you figure out your life,’ ” says Ma. “I don’t think my parents understood what I was doing.” … continue

Keys To Addressing Forefoot Plantar Ulcerations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates one in ten Americans have diabetes and one in three have prediabetes … Diabetes is also increasing among younger populations and can lead to sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease and risk of cancer … One major complication of diabetes is diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), seen in 50 percent of the geriatric population with diabetes … continue

Could Patients Tap Their Way To Better Health?

When recommending activity regimens to patients, is one style of dancing an “untapped” resource? … A recent study in BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care examined how tap dance as an activity might affect plantar pressure, postural stability, ankle range of motion and lower extremity functional strength for older patients at risk for diabetic foot complications … This randomized, single-blind, prospective study looked at 40 at-risk patients … continue

Extremity Gangrene Caused by HBV-Related Cryoglobulinemia Vasculitis in a Patient with Diabetes – A Case Report

We presented a case of hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related type III cryoglobulinemia vasculitis (CryoVas) characterized by extremity gangrene in a patient with diabetes. The 60-year-old female had a 10-year history of poorly controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus. She complained of sudden onset pain and swelling of toes which quickly progressed to gangrene, with fingers becoming pain and dark violet. The patient was initially misdiagnosed as diabetic foot (DF). Although DF is one of the common chronic complications of diabetes, it rarely involves the hand. What is more, the ischemic manifestations of the extremity were not consistent with the results of the vascular examination and immune system changes. The patient had Raynaud’s phenomenon, arthralgia, and extremity gangrene. Test results showed cryoglobulinemia multiple positive, polyclonal immunoglobulin with rheumatoid factor negative, lower complement 3, leukocytoclastic vasculitis, and HBV infection. HBV-related type III CryoVas was finally diagnosed, and a conservative therapy strategy was given … continue

Net Health Adds Industry Leader Proteus Genomics Lab Testing to Wound Care Platform

PITTSBURGH, April 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Net Health, a leading provider of cloud-based software for specialty medical providers, announced today that users of the company’s EHR software solution, Net Health® Wound Care (formerly WoundExpert®), can now place in-chart orders for laboratory services through Proteus Genomics … The agreement is the first Net Health partnership with a laboratory services provider and continues the expansion of in-chart ordering options for clients. The program will initially be launched in April to Net Health customers in the Southeast, including Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Alabama, with plans to expand nationally within the next year … Recognized as a market leader, Proteus Genomics is a highly-specialized genetic and microbiology laboratory facility … continue

T-Natural Killers and Interferon Gamma/Interleukin 4 in Augmentation of Infection in Foot Ulcer in Type 2 Diabetes

Epidemiology studies have shown that diabetes has the highest incidence of any chronic disease worldwide and is a huge threat to human health. Diabetes is clinically divided into types I and II.1 The prevalence of type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM) increases with age across all regions and income groups.2 Still, the prevalence is increasing in young age groups due to unhealthy life routines present since childhood … Insulin resistance (IR) associates with T2DM. Diabetes-related foot complications are important causes for disability worldwide. More than one-third of patients with diabetes worldwide will develop diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), which can progress to diabetic foot infection (DFI), and gangrene, consuming most of the healthcare costs dedicated for patients with diabetes. Around 17% of DFI will require amputation. Studies showed that patients with diabetes fear amputation more than death. The DFI patients will demand extensive debridement … continue

Predictive model identifies risk factors for major adverse limb events in diabetes

A risk score may be able to identify adults with type 2 diabetes at high risk for major adverse limb events, including in those without a history of peripheral artery disease, according to a study published in Diabetic Medicine … “This post hoc analysis of the EXSCEL trial yielded a predictive score for major adverse limb events among participants with diabetes that had a C statistic of 0.822, generally considered as very good … … continue

Wound care awareness

One in four families has a member with a chronic wound. For this reason, it is crucial for us as wound care experts to educate patients, caregivers and other health care providers about chronic wounds and advanced wound care treatment options … Nearly 7 million people in the U.S. are living with a chronic wound, and the number is expected to grow over the next decade. A chronic wound can be painful, dangerous and scary for patients and drastically affect people by diminishing their overall quality of life and potentially decreasing life expectancy if left untreated …They are also dangerous and damaging to our health care industry. The cost associated with chronic wounds is more than $50 billion annually, and this affects 14.5% of Medicare beneficiaries each year … continue

Music in the Wound Care Center: Effects on Anxiety Levels and Blood Pressure Measurements in Patients Receiving Standard Care

In the United States, chronic wounds (including venous ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, and pressure ulcers/injuries) affect approximately 8.2 million people as estimated by a 2018 retrospective analysis of Medicare beneficiaries, and treatment costs ranged from $28 billion to $96.8 billion annually.1 These numbers are expected to increase with the growing aging population and higher prevalence rates of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and peripheral artery disease, in older adults.1 Patients with chronic wounds are reported as having poor quality of life associated with chronic pain and odorous exudate.2 The treatment of chronic wounds in the wound care center (WCC) requires wound assessment, minor procedures, and dressing changes. WCCs provide a specialized level of care using various wound care therapies to promote healing.3 Anxiety has been reported during treatment and may lead to increased pain sensation and stress.4 Pharmacological treatment has been a traditional way to alleviate anxiety; however, this can increase the risk of drug dependency and unwanted side effects.5 Nonpharmacological approaches are considered to be more desirable because of fewer side effects and greater cost-efficiency … continue

What Is a Kennedy Terminal Ulcer?

Many questions arise and confusion develops when wound care providers mention Kennedy terminal ulcers (KTUs). Because these wounds are not frequently seen, and because they develop rapidly and observation ends abruptly with the death of the patient, wound care providers may have never observed a KTU, even in a long career in wound care. Although the literature reveals that there is a lack of knowledge regarding the exact cause of a KTU, let’s look at the facts currently known from published resources … continue

May Hope Bloom and Grow

Depending on which part of the world you live in, after a dark winter, May signals the emergence of warmer weather, the birth of wildlife, and the blooming of flowers. In the Southern Hemisphere, the month of May signals the end of warm weather with the promise of cooler temperatures to provide relief. For still others, it marks the beginning of increasingly hot weather. As with so much, our judgments about May change based on our perspective. Our journal is an international journal—and in this issue (print and online) you will find articles from six different countries (Australia, Egypt, India, Korea, Spain, and the US) that address different aspects of skin care and wound healing. The diversity of these international viewpoints can enrich our toolkit for effective practice … continue

Nuo Therapeutics Announces Publication of Final Decision Memo for Autologous Blood Derived Products for Chronic Non-Healing Wounds by Centers for Medicare

HOUSTON, April 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Nuo Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC Pink: AURX) (“Nuo” or the “Company”), today announced the recent publication of the final decision memo for Autologous Blood-Derived Products for Chronic Non-Healing Wounds (CAG-00190R4).  On April 13, 2021, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded in its final coverage decision memo (available at the URL at the bottom of this release) that Medicare will cover autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for treatment of chronic non-healing diabetic wounds (DFUs) under section 1862(a)(1)(A) of the Social Security Act.  This final decision follows the favorable proposed decision memo which was published December 21, 2020 and followed by a thirty-day public comment period.  In its final decision memo, CMS concluded that the coverage for DFUs would be for a duration of 20 weeks and limited to devices whose FDA cleared indications include the management of exuding cutaneous wounds such as DFUs.  Coverage of autologous PRP beyond 20 weeks for DFUs and for the treatment of all chronic, non-healing wounds will be determined by local Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) … continue

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Reducing Disparities in Diabetic Amputations

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Foluso A. Fakorede, MD, a cardiologist in Bolivar County, MS, has used prevention, screening, and treatment strategies to reduce amputations by 88% in the Mississippi Delta area where he practices. Here, Dr. Fakorede discusses risk factors for peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and amputation in patients with diabetes, and how to reduce disparities in diabetic amputations.…

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Outpatient Diabetic Foot Ulcer Diagnosis With Positive Wound Culture Linked to Subsequent Hospital Admission

Outpatient diagnosis of a diabetic foot ulcer with a positive wound culture is associated with subsequent hospital admission for systemic infection, according to research results published in Open Forum Infectious Diseases … Researchers conducted an exploratory, retrospective study in order to evaluate the relationship between outpatient diagnosis of an index diabetic foot ulcer and any subsequent admissions for invasive bacterial infection including osteomyelitis, bacteremia, or endocarditis … read more

Q&A: CPT CODING FOR EXCISIONAL WOUND DEBRIDEMENT WITH VAC

Gloria Miller, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, former vice president of reimbursement services at Comprehensive Healthcare Solutions Inc. shares which CPT codes to use.
A version of this article was first published April 23, 2021, by HCPro’s Revenue Cycle Advisor, a sibling publication to HealthLeaders.

Q: What CPT codes and modifiers would be used to report excisional debridement for removal of a 2×4-cm ulcer on a patient’s right buttocks with vacuum-assisted closure (VAC)?

A: The debridement would be reported using CPT code 11042 (debridement, subcutaneous tissue [includes epidermis and dermis, if performed]; first 20 sq cm or less). This procedure involves the sharp removal of nonviable subcutaneous tissue until viable tissue is encountered … read more

Wound healing, infection can be determined by genetics

Texas [US], April 25 (ANI): Researchers from Texas Tech’s Department of Biological Sciences and Natural Science Research Laboratory recently determined that some genes have an association with the pathogens that infect chronic wounds and hinder the healing process … In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers have determined that genetics may play a role in how wounds heal. Caleb Phillips, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University and director of the Phillips Laboratory in the Department of Biological Sciences, and doctoral student Craig Tipton led the study, “Patient genetics is linked to chronic wound microbiome composition and healing,” according to a study published in the open-access, peer-reviewed medical journal PLOS Pathogens.
Phillips, who also serves as Curator of Genetic Resources at the Natural Science Research Laboratory’s (NSRL) Robert J Baker Genetic Resources Collection, said the study determined that certain genes are associated with the number of bacteria and abundance of common pathogens in wounds … read more

Differentiation of Diabetic Foot Ulcers Based on Stimulation of Myogenic Oscillations by Transient Ischemia

Purpose: Diabetic foot ulceration is a chronic complication characterized by impaired wound healing. There is a great demand for a diagnostic tool that is able to monitor and predict wound healing.
Patients and Methods: Oscillations in the microcirculation, known as flowmotion, can be monitored very distinctly and precisely using the Flow Mediated Skin Fluorescence (FMSF) technique. The flowmotion response to hypoxia was measured quantitatively in 42 patients with diabetic foot ulcers.
Results: The flowmotion response to hypoxia parameters FM(R) and HS were used to differentiate the diabetic foot ulcers and correlate them with clinical status. In some cases, FMSF measurements were continued over the period of a year in order to monitor disease progress. The clinical status of the quarter of patients with the highest HS values (group A, HS = 50.2± 18.3) was compared to the quarter with the lowest HS values (group B, HS = 4.3± 1.7). The patients in the group B were identified as having low prognosis for healing and were characterized by higher incidences of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, prevalent CVD, neuropathy and nephropathy.
Conclusion: Impaired flowmotion responses to hypoxia induced by transient ischemia can be used for differentiation of diabetic foot ulcers and identification of cases with low prognosis for healing.

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SANUWAVE® Rebrands to Reflect Evolved Wound Care Solutions

“Energy First” Protocol Improves Clinical Outcomes

SUWANEE, Ga.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–SANUWAVE Health, Inc. (OTCQB: SNWV), focused on the development and commercialization of a robust and innovative advanced wound care product portfolio for the repair and regeneration of skin and vascular structures, today announced its rebranding. The new brand reflects the evolution of SANUWAVE’s solutions addressing the entire wound care pathway through its portfolio of noninvasive and biological response therapeutics that help expedite the wound healing process at the cellular level, resulting in less time and resources spent on more costly treatments …. full press release

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iWounds News

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Results of two-year study show Zilver Vena Venous Stent is safe and effective The results of a two-year study support the continued safety and effectiveness of the Zilver Vena Venous Stent (Cook Medical) in treating symptomatic iliofemoral venous outflow obstruction, according to findings presented at the 2021 meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR;…

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