Diabetic patients are susceptable to foot ulceration (DFU), healing in these wounds is compromised by the underlying pathology (Game and Jeffcoate, 2016; Clokie et al., 2017).This series of Case Studies shows how Hydro Responsive Wound Dressing – HRWDs (Hydroclean plus and/or HydroTac) had a positive impact on patients with a cross-section of wounds in which their healing was compromised by diabetes.
Aim
To evaluate the impact of Hydro- Responsive Wound Dressings (HRWD) (Hydroclean plus and HydroTac) in w+W61ound bed preparation and promotion of healing in diabetic patients with wounds.
Methods
The study was undertaken at the Salford Royal (NHS)IFoundation Trust,in the Podiatry department. Patients undergoing routine treatment for their wounds, but specifically in need of removal of devitalised tissue (eg slough) were entered into the evaluation. Both qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the impact of HRWDs was undertaken. HydroClean plus was used to remove devitalised tissue and prepare the wound bed for the second phase, re-epithelialisation and healing. In some patients HydroTac was then used to enable healing progression.
Results
Ten patients with wounds associated with diabetes (eg diabetic foot ulcers, post-surgical dehisced and post-amputation wounds) were treated with HRWDs over a period of one month. The results of this study show that Hydroclean plus over the course of the treatment effectively and rapidly removed the majority of the devitalised tissue in all of the patients thus enabling good wound bed preparation in terms of the presence of granulation tissue and supporting healing. In one patient with dehisiced surgical wounds subsequent treatment with HydroTac enabled rapid re-epithelialisation and healing thus negating the need for amputation.
Conclusion
Hydroclean plus rapidly and painlessly enabled debridement of devascularuised tissue, supporting wound bed preparation. The use of HydroTac in some instances promoted a rapid healing response. Importantly the HydroTherapy concept using HydroClean® plus and HydroTac was effective in preventing further damage and amputation in potentially limb threatening cases.
Clinical relevance
Diabetic foot ulcers are difficult to heal and generally require debridement to remove devitalised tissue. In this study HRWDs (Hydroclean plus and hydroTac) succesfully enabled treatment of DFUs, rapidly debriding and supporting healing respectively.
Conflict of Interest
Study supported by Hartmann Ltd.
Reference
- Clokie M, Greenway AL, Harding K, Jones NJ, Vedhara K, Game F, Dhatariya KK. New horizons in the understanding of the causes and management of diabetic foot disease: report from the 2017 Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference Symposium. Diabet Med. 2017 Mar;34(3):305-315
- Game FL, Jeffcoate WJ. Dressing and Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Current Review of the Evidence. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2016 Sep;138(3 Suppl):158S-64S.
