A New Platform for Burn Treatment and for Delayed Evacuation of Service Members
Abstract
Ultimate Applicability of the Research: The goal of this project is to provide a new and better method to treat severely burned Service members in the battlefield. Open air-exposed contaminated wounds are highly susceptible to infection until the wound is closed. Battlefield injuries may be delayed for several days in being transported to specialized medical facilities to receive definitive treatment. This new method can be used by medics or first responders to immediately cover and start treating the burn until advanced care can be provided. This immediate treatment will protect the burn and prevent contamination, which will substantially improve healing, decrease scarring, and lower the risk of limb amputation and death. Topic Area to Be Addressed: This project addresses Fiscal Year 2015 Topic Area 4, "Prolonged Field Care and Delayed Evacuation; Clinical Impact of Delayed Therapy" from the Military Burn Research Program announcement, W81XWH-15-MBRP-BIRA. Research Impact on the Topic Area Addressed: This project directly addresses the topic because it will test a novel flat wound cover that can protect and disinfect burn wounds for 4 to 7 days without other advanced burn care. Antibiotics can be applied under the cover to treat infection, which is the major risk in the first few days after burn injury. The self-adhesive wound cover can be applied in the field and left in place until definitive burn care is available. Potential Clinical Applications, Benefits, and Risks: The polyurethane wound cover is small, flat, lightweight, and easy to package in a single-use sterile packet like an adhesive bandage. It has an adhesive rim that attaches around the perimeter of the burn without adhering to the burned tissue. It is designed for immediate use by medics or first-responders wherever people receive severe burn injuries. The cover creates a small chamber that can hold antibiotics and other drugs to treat infection, prevent inflammation, and reduce scarring. These drugs are easy to inject through a built-in port. Because the cover is transparent, the wound can be monitored visually and healing progress can be measured. Therefore, with little or no maintenance required once it is positioned on the burn, the cover can be used to protect and initially treat serious burns until definitive treatment begins, even if it is delayed for several days. Fresh wound covers also can be applied in the burn facility to protect the burn from infection during the prolonged healing process. Projected Timeline to Achieve the Expected Patient-Related Outcome: The wound cover will be tested for 3 years in animal models to determine the optimal doses of antibiotics to treat and prevent infections and to test different ways of delivering them with the wound cover. Successful completion of this project will lead directly to clinical studies to test the wound cover on severely burned military and civilian personnel. Benefit to Service Members, Families, Caregivers, and the General Public: Severe burns, especially those caused from blast injuries resulting from improvised explosive devices, are a growing and serious threat in the battlefield. In addition, terrorist threats increase the risk of targeted attacks against civilians that can inflict burns and other mass casualties. Light-weight, compact, and easy to use, the new self-adhesive wound covers can be provided in individual, sterile, single-use packages for use by medics in a warzone or first responders in our communities. This revolutionary treatment device has the potential to prevent contamination, tissue loss, scarring, amputation, and death. It represents a major breakthrough that can greatly enhance the quality of life of Soldiers and civilians after a severe burn.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 31, 2017
- Source ID
- W81XWH1610784
Entities
People
- Elof Eriksson
Organizations
- United States Army