Case Report of Advanced Wound Management Improving Dressing Tolerance and Expediting Skin Graft
Necrotizing soft tissue infection (NSTI) is rare and characterized by rapid onset and spread of inflammation and necrosis. The infection starts within the fascia but can rapidly progress to include musculature, subcutaneous fat, and overlying skin. Its presentation is considered a surgical emergency. Persons who use intravenous or subcutaneous opioids are at higher risk of NSTIs. PURPOSE: The purpose of this case report is to describe the positive clinical outcome after consulting with wound specialists and using a dressing regimen to expedite more rapid wound healing, shortened time to skin graft, and improved pain tolerance in a patient with a history of intravenous and subcutaneous heroin use. CASE REPORT: The patient presented with an NSTI that required extensive debridement of the bilateral upper extremities. The acute surgical wound service was consulted. A dressing regimen consisting of hypochlorous acid–preserved wound cleansing, followed by carboxymethylcellulose fiber with 1.2% ionic silver covered by hydrocellular foam… read more
Tag: wound dressings
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
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
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
Spider silk could be used to create artificial skin to help heal wounds
Unless your name is Peter Parker, you may not be aware of quite how versatile spider silk is as a material. In fact, aside from spinning webs, spider silk can also be used for a plethora of applications — from improving the quality of microphones in hearing aids to forming incredibly strong-yet-lightweight shields to forming microcapsules for delivering anti-cancer vaccines.
Now researchers from Sweden and India have come up with yet another novel use for spider silk’s unusual mix of strength and elasticity: Creating artificial skin and wound dressings for helping heal wounds.
“We have developed two types of silk-based constructs: Nanofibrous matrices which serve as bioactive wound dressings, and microporous sponges cultured with human skin cells to serve as artificial skin,” Biman Mandal, an associate professor in the Department of Biosciences … full article in Digital Trends