SEARCH · Search PubMed
Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Traditionally known as 'the mariner's cure', alginates have been used as wound dressings for many years. Tegagen (formerly Tegagel) is an alginate dressing with improved performance from 3M. It is designed for a variety of wounds with moderate to high levels of exudate. Alginates are a very cost-effective treatment option for flat and cavity wounds of this type.
Algosteril is a new alginate dressing manufactured by Les Laboratoires BROTHIER and distributed by Beiersdorf Medical. It is a natural, pure, non-woven dressing made from calcium alginate fibres. It complements other products in the Beiersdorf wound care family such as Cutinova, Cutifilm and Cutisorb. Algosteril rapidly absorbs and retains wound fluid to form an integral gellified structure, thereby maintaining an ideal moist wound healing environment. It traps and immobilizes pathogenic bacteria in the network of gellified fibres, stimulates macrophage activity and activates platelets, resulting in haemostasis and accelerated wound healing.
VACUTEX is a new rapid capillary action dressing comprising three layers: two 100% polyester filament outer layers, and a 65% polyester and 35% cotton woven inner layer. The outer surfaces are fused in such a way as to prevent micro fibres shedding within the wound bed. No two wounds are alike, and wounds are often located in difficult-to-dress areas. This article will describe how VACUTEX, when used with creativity, addresses many of the challenges of wound management.
This article describes a preliminary study comparing the effect of VACUTEX capillary action wound dressing vs standard protocol for the treatment of sloughy and necrotic wounds. The study was carried out over a period of 5 months. Randomization was computer generated and batches of trial numbers and dressing allocation were delivered to each of the three study sites, sealed in opaque envelopes to ensure blinding of allocation. A total of 35 patient participants were recruited (17 VACUTEX 14, standard protocol, three withdrew, one died). All participants gave their consent to enter the study. All participants were assessed and photographs were taken on days 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29. Nursing assessments of size, site, depth, severity, tissue type of wound and causation were collected, as were demographic factors including mental status, primary/associated medical history, weight, height, and ethnic origin.
An infectious diseases unit is potentially an ideal environment in which to carry out research into honey-based dressings. This article looks at the barriers to carrying out case study-based research, and describes the treatment of an elderly gentleman with venous leg ulcers. The patient's wounds improved with the honey-based dressing, but it failed to free the wound of microbes. One possible explanation is that the honey, instead of killing the microbes, actually provided them with a food source.
This article reviews the in vitro and in vivo studies available on a new nanocrystalline silver dressing, Acticoat (Smith & Nephew), and discusses their relevance to the availability of this product on the Drug Tariff. The addition of nanocrystalline silver dressings will make a valuable contribution to wound care in the community, in terms of providing continuity of care for patients who are discharged from hospital and also in preventing admission to hospital with non-manageable wound infection.
The aim of this study was to investigate in vitro the fluid-handling properties of a new hydrogel dressing (Aquaform) and to compare these with the fluid-handling properties of a commonly used hydrogel dressing (Intrasite Gel). The results of laboratory tests indicate that the new hydrogel can absorb substantial amounts of fluid from simulated wet wounds and donate substantial amounts of fluid to simulated dry or necrotic wounds. The amount of fluid exchanged in both wound types for the new hydrogel was similar to that for Intrasite Gel.
This paper considers the significance of achieving the correct moisture balance--neither too moist nor too dry--at the wound-dressing interface and discusses the importance of using new dressing formats designed with this in mind.
OBJECTIVE: This exploratory, clinical study aimed to explore the effect of an activated charcoal silver dressing (intervention) with cleansing and debridement (control) in reducing the level of bacteria in chronic wounds with no clinical signs of local infection. METHOD: Patients were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group and monitored for two weeks. Samples for bacterial status and cultivation were obtained by surface smear (spatula) and percutaneous aspiration first at baseline and then after 15 days of treatment. Sixty-seven lesions were included in the intervention group and 58 in the control group. RESULTS: At baseline, in the intervention group 71.6% of the wounds were contaminated, 7.5% had a high level of bacteria and 20.9% were infected. In the control group at baseline 65.5% of the wounds were contaminated, 6.9% colonised, 6.9% had a high level of bacteria and 20.7% were infected. There were no colonised wounds in the intervention group. After two weeks, combining totals of contaminated, colonised, a high level of bacteria and infection for each group, 85.1% (57/67) of the wounds in the intervention group had a positive bacterial level management (that is, a reduction in the number of bacteria in the wound) compared with 62.1% (36/58) in the control group (p=0.003). CONCLUSION: Activated charcoal dressings that contain silver control infection and reduce healing times, eliminating bacterial barriers.
Gauze is often a component of donor site dressings, and its removal can cause patients severe pain. This study set out to examine the extent of the problem and to investigate whether the method of anchoring the dressing influences slippage.
OBJECTIVE: To compare a hydrogel dressing with a conservative topical wound-care regimen (gauze with povidone-iodine) for the treatment of pressure ulcers. METHOD: A prospective study comprising 27 (24 male and three female) spinal-cord injury patients with a total of 49 pressure ulcers. Wounds were randomised into a treatment group (n=25) or control group (n=24). The primary outcome measure was the rate of wound healing (cm2/days). RESULTS: Healing rates in the treatment group were higher than in the control group, although this was not statistically significant. Some 84% of the wounds in the treatment group and 54% in the control group epithelialised, which was statistically significant (p=0.04). The mean healing time in the treatment group was 48 days compared with 45 days for the controls. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that hydrogel occlusive wound dressings facilitate healing by promoting more rapid epithelialisation of pressure ulcers, when compared with conservative wound care.
OBJECTIVE: The effect of Urgotul on normal human dermal fibroblast proliferation was studied in vitro and compared with that of two other dressings: Mepitel and Tulle Gras. METHOD: Proliferation was measured by the extent of thymidine incorporation into the replicating DNA of proliferative fibroblasts in contact with the complete dressing.Additional cell viability and metabolism were evaluated using MTT assay. Morphology and ultrastructure analysis were based on immunolabelling and confocal laser microscopy. RESULTS: Only Urgotul significantly stimulated thymidine incorporation, generally with a maximal proliferative effect at a contact time of 48 hours. This was confirmed by the observation of a greater number of dividing cells (mitotic cells) than in the control cultures. No cytotoxicity was observed following treatment with this dressing. Cells exhibited normal structural and ultrastructural features. CONCLUSION: Fibroblasts play a key role in dermal wound repair. The ability of Urgotul to promote fibroblast proliferation could explain its efficiency in the healing process of acute and chronic wounds. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: This study was supported by Urgo Laboratories.
This article explores the Canadian military entertainment units during World War II (WWII), specifically those formed by the Navy, Army and Air Force from talent found amongst their own personnel. These entertainment units toured extensively in Canada, the United Kingdom and Europe with the goal of increasing the morale of combat troops while encouraging the enlistment of Canada's domestic populations in the war effort generally and the armed forces specifically. By focusing on male to female cross-dressing in the performances of these entertainment units and their pre-WWII antecedents, it will become clear that the nature and importance of the representation of femininity within the virtually all-male milieu that existed near the battlefront changed over time in response to the demands of the audiences. Until the second half of WWII, soldier audiences were generally unwilling to form any ideological links between cross-dressing and homosexuality. Female impersonators were the key cast members in troop shows during the Great War, but eventually fell out of favor in the last years of WWII after women were recruited in large numbers into the Canadian military and thus its entertainment infrastructure. With women then on the military stage, men who persisted in female impersonation were decreasingly popular with audiences, ultimately under growing suspicion of being homosexuals and gradually removed from the productions.
PURPOSE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of a novel hemostatic wound dressing designed for rapid hemostasis at arterial puncture sites. METHODS: Over a 15-month period, 209 consecutive patients were randomized to conventional manual compression (n=105) or the use of the Clo-Sur P.A.D. hemostatic device (n=104) after removal of the sheath. Puncture-related and device-related complications, time to hemostasis, time to ambulation, and patient and physician discomfort were recorded. RESULTS: In 209 patients, 21 (10.0%) puncture-related complications were observed, including 11 (5.3%) pseudoaneurysms, 9 (4.3%) hematomas, and 1 (0.5%) major bleeding complication. There was no significant difference (p=0.36) in complications between the hemostatic device (9/104, 8.7%) and the conventional group (12/105, 11.4%). In the hemostatic device group compared to the conventional group, respectively, the average time to hemostasis (13.6 versus 20.3 minutes; p<0.001), time to ambulation (6.5 versus 17.4 hours, p<0.001), patient discomfort (VAS 2.1 versus 4.7, p<0.001), and physician discomfort (VAS 3.8 versus 5.2, p<0.001) were significantly lower. Twenty (19%) sheath removals in the hemostatic device group were classified as a technical failure of the device. CONCLUSION: The use of this hemostatic wound dressing for arterial access site management after percutaneous vascular procedures significantly reduced the time to hemostasis, enabled early mobilization, and reduced patient discomfort without increasing the risk for complications compared to conventional manual compression. A high rate of technical failures, however, warrants further improvement before routine use can be recommended.
This study was undertaken to determine the reaction of amputated dental pulp to the capping agent, alpha-tricalcium phosphate (alpha TCP), and to reveal the exact nature of the processes involved in both the healing of, and new hard tissue formation in the pulp when dressed with alpha TCP. The dental pulps of the anterior teeth of Macaca fuscata were dressed with alpha TCP ceramic 4-10 microns in diameter. The teeth were fixed by perfusion, then observed with light and electron microscopes. At 10 and 14 days postoperatively, the phagocytosis of the alpha TCP layer by the many macrophages and multinucleated giant cells, both of which had emerged beneath it, was seen. The synthesis of collagenous matrix underlying the alpha TCP layer began at 14 or 21 days, the cells involved exhibiting morphologic characteristics similar to those seen in osteoblasts. By the 90th day, only a bone-like hard tissue remained. No inflammation was observed in the residual dental pulp at any time during the experimental period. At 14 days, needle-like crystals were seen to have formed on the surface of alpha TCP particles, and by the 21st day, these crystals had extended to the newly synthesized matrix, with the result that calcification of the matrix was initiated, a calcified layer being superficially produced in the matrix. In the region of the matrix adjacent to the superficial calcified layer, a number of matrix vesicles were also found to function as another mechanism of matrix mineralization. Thus, it was concluded that the bone-like hard tissue was induced in the pulp capped with alpha TCP, and its potential for clinical application to exposed dental pulp was confirmed.
Core temperature (tympanic and rectal temperatures) is lowered for several hours under diurnal bright light exposure and its evening fall is inhibited under evening bright light exposure. Melatonin may be involved in the behavior of these core temperatures. Diurnal bright light exposure for several hours may make dressing behavior and thermal sensibility in the evening cold slower and dull, compared with diurnal dim light exposure. On the contrary, evening bright light exposure for several hours may make the dressing behavior and thermal sensibility in the evening cold quicker and sharper, compared with evening dim light exposure. The underlying physiological mechanisms for these findings are that the thermoregulatory set-point would be reduced more markedly in the evening under the influence of higher elevation of melatonin under the diurnal bright light exposure, and its evening decline would be inhibited by suppression of the nocturnal rise of melatonin under evening bright light exposure.
A new silicone rubber dressing material, Mepitel was tested as an alternative to SurfaSoft and staples or sutures and a vaseline gauze for the fixation of 45 split skin grafts in 38 children. Almost all grafts took completely. No graft was lost because of inadequate fixation. The main advantage over fixing the graft with SurfaSoft combined with staples, or a vaseline gauze combined with sutures, is that the removal of the dressing is painless, and neither the graft nor the wound is disturbed.
A group of stroke patients were assessed over four occasions using the Nottingham stroke dressing assessment. A similar pattern of difficulty in dressing was found for both males and females. The consistency of ordering of problems was highly significantly correlated in each of the four assessments.