Tag: Dressings

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS WITH WOUND CARE

You know me, you’ve heard me say it before—wound care is important for all DMEPOS providers because every patient has skin, and skin health affects each of us. The skin is our largest organ. Not only does it protect us against the ever-changing environment, it also maintains our integrity. Without proper treatment to lacerations, surgical incisions, burns and injuries, the “wound” could lead to life threatening consequences. All providers see patients who are prone to skin issues because of co-morbidities, surgeries or advanced age.

If you can’t tell, I’m trying to make the case that everyone should be in wound care. If you haven’t considered expanding or elevating your business with wound care, you should. It’s human nature to shy away from wounds, and you may not know what to ask or how to get started (VGM Wound Care can help with that). But your patients have health issues which put them at an increased risk for skin breakdown. Respiratory issues, cardiovascular problems, diabetics, and para- and quadriplegics are just a few of the conditions that … read more

Advances in Wound Care Technology: What We See Is What We Get … and More

The science of wound care dressings has progressed a long way over the years, especially during the not-too-distant past. As recently as the early 1990s, the main dressings available to patients included transparent films, hydrocolloids, foam, and calcium alginate. Although not incredibly common, moist wound care was also utilized more than many clinicians would care to admit some 30 years later. Standard dressings at the time were wet-to-dry and betadine.

Today, dressing technology has transitioned from a passive to an active role. Yet, the sophistication of dressings that our patients enjoy today would not be possible without understanding the clinical progression that has occurred, even among those treatments that have since been abandoned … read more

Periwound Skin Management

Periwound skin management is just as important as wound bed preparation in wound healing. The goal of periwound management is to maintain an optimal moist wound healing environment while preventing skin breakdown and infection. Skin is more vulnerable in patients with certain comorbidities and conditions. Periwound skin breakdown is just one of the culprits that delay wound healing and increase pain … 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

Patient Assessment and Wound Dressing Considerations

As wound care clinicians, we need to take into consideration many different factors in deciding on a treatment plan for our wound patients. Our patients should be evaluated on an individual basis. If we look at our patient’s socioeconomic status, we will find it varies from patient to patient. Socioeconomic status clearly affects morbidity and mortality rates related to wounds: wound management tends to be lower in quality and follow-up visits tend to be fewer in number when compared with patients with better economic status.

Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Wound Management

Socioeconomic factors can be big stressors for patients. Patients want their wounds to heal but feel helpless. We, as compassionate health care clinicians, feel the frustration for our patients. Patients miss follow-up appointments because they lack gas money, access to transportation, or caregiver support to assist with transportation. What can we do to help? There are some hospitals throughout the country that have free shuttle services to and from the wound center. This helps relieve the burden for the patient and provides more consistent wound management. Most recently, there are companies that are similar to Uber, but for health care needs. The following list provides examples of barriers to wound management … read more

Dressing Selection: Which Dressing to Choose?

Dressing selections can be overwhelming for clinicians and providers in health care. There are now well over 6,000 wound care products on the market. Ideally, there would be a multifunctional smart dressing that could “do it all” readily available in all settings. Unfortunately, we as health care providers know, that definitely isn’t the case.

 

Dressing category education plays a vital role in wound management. Knowing the functionality and appropriateness of the dressing is key in enhancing the wound healing process. As wound care clinicians, we want to be in a mindset of looking at our whole patient. However, let’s not forget the Wound Care Basics 101: wound bed preparation, monitoring, patient compliance, appropriateness of dressing, and addressing underlying factors or causes.

 

Biofilm formation is also a culprit for impeding wound healing. Most, if not all, ulcers develop a biofilm over time. It is reported 60% to 90% of chronic wounds contain a biofilm. Therefore, selecting the appropriate dressing for effectiveness is imperative … read more

Dressing Selection: Which Dressing to Choose?

Dressing selections can be overwhelming for clinicians and providers in health care. There are now well over 6,000 wound care products on the market. Ideally, there would be a multifunctional smart dressing that could “do it all” readily available in all settings. Unfortunately, we as health care providers know, that definitely isn’t the case.

 

Dressing category education plays a vital role in wound management. Knowing the functionality and appropriateness of the dressing is key in enhancing the wound healing process. As wound care clinicians, we want to be in a mindset of looking at our whole patient. However, let’s not forget the Wound Care Basics 101: wound bed preparation, monitoring, patient compliance, appropriateness of dressing, and addressing underlying factors or causes … read more

Under the Off-Load: A Pilot Case Series to Identify Ideal Dressings

     to use under Total Contact Casts (TCC)

 

Introduction: It is well stated in the literature that Total Contact Casting (TCC) is a standard of care for off-loading of neuropathic ulcers of the plantar surface. Another standard of care is to provide a moist wound healing environment. Evidence to support appropriate wound dressings under TCC is currently unavailable despite recognition that the wound environment and thus the amount of drainage changes as the wound progresses towards healing. This pilot case series of three patients with plantar based diabetic neuropathic ulcers uses two dressings, a five layer silicone foam with absorbent polymer and moisture retentive backing dressing (SF)* for low to moderate drainage and a non-adherent super-absorbent (SAP)† polymer dressing for moderate to high exudate levels.

 

Clinical Problem: May TCC kits include a generic, open-cell, polyurethane foam dressing (OCF). These dressings do not absorb or retain fluid in a moderate to high exudate environment which can lead to maceration and non-healing. Furthermore, due to the high moisture vapor transmission rate of OCF, wounds with low exudate may experience desiccation and result in the development of slough and biofilm … read more

Managing inflammation by means of polymeric membrane dressings …

… in pressure ulcer prevention

 

Inflammation is the immediate normal response of the immune system to localised microscopic cell damage that precedes macroscopic tissue damage. Inflammation is triggered by secretion of chemokines that attract immune system cells to the sites of cell damage and facilitate their extravasation through increase in capillary permeability. The increased permeability of capillary walls in the inflammatory state consequently causes fluid leakage from the vasculature and, hence, oedema and associated pain. Polymeric membrane dressings (PolyMem®, Ferris Mfg. Corp.) are multifunctional dressings that focus and control the inflammation and oedema, and reduce pain. The literature reviewed in this article suggests that by having these effects on the inflammatory response, especially in fragile patients, the PolyMem dressing technology may facilitate repair of micro-damage in cell groups, which counteracts the evolution of damage to a macroscopic (tissue) level. Reducing the spread of inflammation and oedema in tissues appears to be a unique feature of PolyMem dressings, which supports repair of cell-scale damage under intact skin and tilts the delicate balance between the counteracting damage build-up and tissue repair mechanisms, thus promoting reversibility and self-healing … read more

Silver-impregnated Dressings for the Treatment of Chronic Wounds

A Scoping Review of the Use of Silver-impregnated Dressings for the Treatment of Chronic Wounds

 

Topical silver agents and dressings are used to control infection and promote healing in chronic wounds, but reviews published from 2006 to 2011 found heterogeneous results regarding their effectiveness. A scoping review was conducted to examine the extent, range, and nature of research activity surrounding chronic wound care that employed silver-impregnated dressings; identify research gaps in the existing literature; and summarize the evidence to provide recommendations for future clinical studies.

 

Ten (10) electronic databases and additional sources were screened from their inception to May 2016; search terms for the different databases included but were not limited to silver, chronic, complications, wound, ulcer, and sore. English-language articles that compared silver dressings with an alternate treatment in adults with chronic wounds and that reported clinical outcome measures were included. Of 222 full-text reviewed studies, 27 were included for qualitative analysis. Qualitative analysis was guided by key findings identified among the included studies that were analyzed in aggregate form where appropriate. In comparative analyses of the 26 studies that investigated wound healing … read more

Iran Unveils Indigenous Polymer Wound Care Dressing


Iranian scientists have managed to produce an artificial vessel and a type of wound care dressing using polymeric materials.

 

The two technological developments were unveiled in a ceremony attended by the Head of Iran Polymer and Petrochemical Institute (IPPI) Mehdi Nekouhesh.

 

The polymer wound care dressing was invented as part of larger plan to find a treatment for a particular type of skin wounds, a Farsi report by Mehr said … read more

What you need to know about transparent film dressings

By Nancy Morgan, RN, BSN, MBA, WOC, WCC, DWC, OMS

Transparent film dressings are thin sheets of transparent polyurethane (polymer) coated with an adhesive. These dressings are available in a variety of sizes and shapes.

Transparent film dressings provide a moist, healing environment; promote autolytic debridement; protect the wound from mechanical trauma and bacterial invasion; and act as a blister roof or “second skin.” Because they’re flexible, these dressings can conform to wounds located in awkward locations such as the elbow. The transparency makes it easy to visualize the wound bed … read more

Effective Wound Dressing Securement for Infection Prevention

In order to promote rapid healing, improve patient comfort and prevent complications, it is important that healthcare professionals actively work to prevent infection. One key component of that effort is wound dressing securement. Secure, gentle and effective dressings can help prevent the ingress of foreign material, reduce damage during dressing changes and help foster an ideal healing environment. This can help reduce the risk of infection, improving patient outcomes and lowering costs.1 In this post, we will explore the importance of infection prevention and effective dressing securement strategies to help prevent infection … read more