An Innovative Wound Management Solution for Reducing Dressing Changes and Burden of Care in the Treatment of Pressure Injuries
Abstract
Pressure ulcers occur when prolonged pressure on one area of the body damages the skin and causes a wound. They are often found on the lower back, hips, ankles, heels, and tailbone. They are common in patients with limited ability to move (such as patients with spine injuries or bedridden patients) and include bed sores and diabetic foot ulcers. The medical community has recently decided to call these types of wounds pressure injuries. Pressure injuries are extremely common throughout the world. In the United States alone, over 2.5 million people are treated annually. The cost of treating each patient with pressure injuries averages between $20,900-$151,700, costing the healthcare system between $9.1-$11.6 billion annually. Pressure injuries are very hard to treat as they require a lot of nursing care time. Patients with these injuries often have significant pain, bad odor from the wounds, and wetness from wound discharges. This causes stress, anxiety, and depression, resulting in a low quality of life. Pressure injury patients are often reliant on their care givers, leading to feelings of lost autonomy, security, social functioning, and well-being. It is really important that researchers come up with learning how to better treat these wounds especially while there are real limits to how much can be spent on health care. Veterans and people in the military have a high incidence of these pressure injuries. Many Veterans have spinal cord injuries and cannot move about freely, which predispose them to pressure injuries. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) treats more than 27,000 Veterans with spinal cord injuries each year. VHA polytrauma rehabilitation centers reported that 38% of admissions have pressure-related injuries. The study that we are proposing will assess a novel topical powder dressing (TPD), which is made up of polymers that are used to produce eye contact lenses. The powder dressing is applied to the wound and then a little sterile saline is added, after which the dressing changes texture to form a covering for the wound. It can stay on the wound for up to 30 days and flakes off as the wound heals. This dressing is already commercially available and is being used to successfully treat many chronic and acute wounds. The study will compare this TPD dressing in patients with pressure injuries to currently used dressings. Some people in the study will get TPD and some will get the treatment their doctor would normally give them. They will be in the study for 12 weeks or until their wound heals. We will then compare the two groups and see if there is a reduction in the number of times dressings are changed and if wound healing is improved. We will also measure impact on patient pain and satisfaction. We believe that with the long wear time of this product, patients with pressure injuries will undergo less dressing changes and be able to heal faster with less pain.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 05, 2021
- Source ID
- W81XWH2110616
Entities
People
- Lawrence Lavery
Organizations
- United States Army