Executive Summary: Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence Canada (NSWOCC) Nursing Best Practice Recommendations: Enterocutaneous Fistula and Enteroatmospheric Fistula.

Enterocutaneous fistulas (ECF) and enteroatmospheric fistulas (EAF) pose significant quality-of-life concerns for patients, and management challenges for the interprofessional healthcare team. In 2009, the Canadian Association for Enterostomal The developed best practice recommendations for the management of ECF. Over time, evidence and practice evolve, and the Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence Canada performed a comprehensive review of the literature and revised the practice recommendation document. The revised recommendations provide evidence-based management guidance for ECF and EAF in the adult population whether in acute care, community/home care, or long-term/residential settings, and are specifically created for nurses. The revised recommendations include organizational support, assessment, nutrition, pharmaceutical management, education, and local fistula management. This article serves as an executive summary for this clinical resource; the full guideline is available at http://nswoc.ca/ecf-best-practices/.

Refractory venous leg ulcers: observational evaluation of innovative new technology.

This observational case series reports the evaluation of a novel neuromuscular electrical stimulation device (geko™) that stimulates the common peroneal nerve at the fibular head as an adjunctive therapy in patients with non-healing venous leg ulcers. The aim was to evaluate and determine if the geko™ device was effective in this population and should be added to the medical supply formulary. Patients whose wounds had failed to heal within 24 weeks of standard therapy were identified in two community settings in Ontario. A total of 11 patients consented to the evaluation with a combined 107-year history of recalcitrant leg ulcers. Although the pre-geko™ healing rate was unknown, all ulcers were considered non-healing. With geko™, the average weekly percentage reduction in surface area for all patients was 4·5% and for the six adherent to geko™ and best practices 7·0%. By comparison, the average weekly percentage reduction for measurable wounds in the five non-adherent patients was 1·8%. Requirements for success appear to include an arterial status adequate for healing, effective and prompt management of wound infections and adherence to the treatment schedule. The geko™ device has been added to the medical supply formulary in one centre and is pending in the other.

Canadian Association for Enterostomal Therapy evidence-based recommendations for conservative sharp wound debridement: an executive summary.

The Canadian Association for Enterostomal Therapy Conservative sharp wound debridement evidence-based recommendations are a result of the decision and commitment to advance clinical nursing practice to improve the provision of care to patients via development of an open source guide. The recommendations were developed by a volunteer group of ET nurses who work in clinical practice, policy development, consultation, and education in wound care. The document was developed over the course of 2 years (2009-2011); it is a distillation of existing literature, guidelines, and expert opinion. The development and dissemination of the recommendations were sponsored by the Canadian Association for Enterostomal Therapy. These recommendations should be considered in the context of the organization or care setting as well as available resources and supports. Resources and supports take the form of access to emergency care, physicians and allied health care professionals, education, administrative support, funding, supplies, equipment, and policy. The recommendations should also be applied with consideration of the evolving evidence that will further define practices in Conservative Sharp Wound Debridement. Refer to the supplemental digital content associated with this article at (supplemental digital content 1, http://links.lww.com/JWOCN/A16) for the complete document.