Skin surface infrared thermography in pressure ulcer outcome prognosis.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of skin surface infrared thermography (SSIT) as a prognostic tool in the treatment of stages III and IV pressure ulcers (PU), with hydrocolloid/hydrogel dressings plus 20 exposures to low-level laser therapy (LLLT), compared with hydrocolloid dressings alone, in a group of long-term bedbound care patients. METHOD: In this comparative study, participants were randomly assigned to group I: PUs treated with specialist wound dressings and laser therapy, or to group II: PUs treated with specialist wound dressings without laser therapy. Thermal imaging sessions were carried out at the beginning of the study, and after two and four weeks of treatment. Thermal imaging processing was applied to compare percentage differences in the temperature distribution between the groups within selected regions of interest (ROIs). The correlation between the temperature distribution and PU healing was evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 43 patients took part. In the study, three variants of PU healing were observed: pure healing (H) with minimal granulation; healing with hypergranulation (H+G); and non-healing (NH). Analyses of SSIT-related thermographic patterns revealed their dependence on the course of healing. The percentage of successful PU healing reached 79.2% in group I compared with 73.7% in group II (p<0.05) The dominant variant of healing in Group I was H, while in group II the variants H and H+G were present with equal frequency. CONCLUSION: Thermal imaging processing allowed comparison of differences in the temperature distribution between the groups within ROIs. Application of LLLT significantly improved the healing process (p<0.05). The clinical significance of this finding should be confirmed with larger studies; however, SSIT may be useful as a prognostic tool during the treatment of PUs, with the ability to predict the course of healing initially, that is independent of LLLT treatment.

Local Growth Hormone Therapy for Pressure Ulcer Healing on a Human Skin Mouse Model.

The growth hormone is involved in skin homeostasis and wound healing. We hypothesize whether it is possible to improve pressure ulcer (PU) healing by locally applying the recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) in a human skin mouse model. Non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunodeficient mice (n = 10) were engrafted with a full-thickness human skin graft. After 60 days with stable grafts, human skin underwent three cycles of ischemia-reperfusion with a compression device to create a PU. Mice were classified into two groups: rhGH treatment group (n = 5) and control group (n = 5). In the rhGH group for local intradermal injections, each had 0.15 mg (0.5IU) applied to the PU edges, once per week for four weeks. Evaluation of the wound healing was conducted with photographic and visual assessments, and histological analysis was performed after complete wound healing. The results showed a healing rate twice as fast in the rhGH group compared to the control group (1.25 ± 0.33 mm2/day versus 0.61 ± 0.27 mm2/day; p-value < 0.05), with a faster healing rate during the first 30 days. The rhGH group showed thicker skin (1953 ± 457 µm versus 1060 ± 208 µm; p-value < 0.05) in the repaired area, with a significant decrease in collagen type I/III ratio at wound closure (62 days, range 60-70). Local administration of the rhGH accelerates PU healing in our model. The rhGH may have a clinical use in pressure ulcer treatment.

Nurses' knowledge and practice of pressure ulcer prevention and treatment: An observational study.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To assess nurses' knowledge on pressure ulcer (PU) prevention and treatment in Jordan, and the frequency of and factors influencing nurses' implementation of PU prevention and treatment interventions. BACKGROUND: Highly educated and experienced nurses can provide effective PU care; however, previous studies highlighted poor knowledge and implementation of PU care. DESIGN: A correlational study examining nurses' knowledge of PU prevention and frequency of PU preventive actions in Jordanian hospitals. METHODS: Participants were 377 nurses and 318 patients from 11 hospitals. Data were collected to quantify the frequency of nurses' implementation of pressure ulcer prevention and treatment interventions for patients suffering from PUs and/or at risk of PU development using a self-reported cross-sectional survey and prospective 8-h observation. RESULTS: For observed PU prevention while type of hospital and number of beds in units were significant it is not known without further work if this is replicable. For observed PU treatment, linear regression analysis revealed significant negative beta values for more than 50 beds in clinical unit (ß = -2.49). CONCLUSION: The study addressed new factors, facilitating the provision of prevention and treatment strategies to PU development, including type of clinical institution and number of beds in clinical unit. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: There is a need to develop training programmes to improve insufficient nurses' knowledge and, thus, clinical practices on PU prevention and treatment. These programmes would assist both junior and senior nurses and other key stakeholders (e.g. hospital managers, policy-makers, and educators) to improve the performance of PU services, thus, minimising patient suffering.

Designing a Biomaterial Approach to Control the Adaptive Response to a Skin Injury.

The goal of this review is to explain how to design a biomaterial approach to control the adaptive response to injury, with an emphasis on skin wounds. The strategies will be selected based on whether they have a reasonable probability of meeting the desired clinical outcome vs. just comparing the pros and cons of different strategies. To do this, the review will look at the normal adaptive response in adults and why it does not meet the desired clinical outcome in most cases. In addition, the adaptive response will be looked at in cases where it does meet the clinical performance requirements including animals that regenerate and for fetal wound healing. This will lead to how biomaterials can be used to alter the overall adaptive response to allow it to meet the desired clinical outcome. The important message of the review is that you need to use the engineering design process, not the scientific method, to design a clinical treatment. Also, the clinical performance requirements are functional, not structural. The last section will give some specific examples of controlling the adaptive response for two skin injuries: burns and pressure ulcers. For burns, it will cover some preclinical studies used to justify a clinical study as well as discuss the results of a clinical study using this system. For pressure ulcers, it will cover some preclinical studies for two different approaches: electrical stimulation and degradable/regenerative scaffolds. For electrical stimulation, the results of a clinical study will be presented.

Nonpharmacologic Interventions to Heal Pressure Ulcers in Older Patients: An Overview of Systematic Reviews (The SENATOR-ONTOP Series).

BACKGROUND: Pressure ulcers (PUs) are more frequent in older patients, and the healing process is usually challenging. Nonpharmacologic interventions may play a role in the treatment of older people with PUs, but most systematic reviews (SRs) have not addressed this specific population using convincing outcome measures. OBJECTIVE: To summarize and critically appraise the evidence from SRs of the primary studies on nonpharmacologic interventions to treat PUs in older patients. DESIGN: SR and meta-analysis of comparative studies. METHODS: PubMed, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, and CINHAL (from inception to October 2013) were searched. A new search for updates in the Cochrane Database was launched in July 2014. SRs that included at least 1 comparative study evaluating any nonpharmacologic intervention to treat PUs in older patients, in any health care setting, were included. Any primary study with experimental design was then identified and included. From each primary study, quality assessment was undertaken as specified by the Cochrane Collaboration and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation working group. Interventions were identified and compared among different studies to explore the possibility of performing a meta-analysis, using complete ulcer healing as the outcome measure. RESULTS: One hundred ten SRs with 45 primary studies satisfied the inclusion criteria. The most frequent interventions explored in these trials were support surfaces (13 studies), nutrition (8), and electrotherapy (6). High or moderate quality of evidence was found in none of the interventions, mainly because of the very serious risk of bias of most studies and imprecision in the treatment effect. Evidence grade is very low or insufficient to support the use of any support surface, nutrition intervention, multicomponent interventions, repositioning or other adjunctive therapy (ultrasound, negative pressure, laser, electromagnetic, light, shock wave, hydrotherapy, radiofrequency, or vibration therapy) to increase the rates of PU healing in older patients. Electrotherapy showed some beneficial effect in the treatment of PUs, although the quality of evidence is low. CONCLUSIONS: In older patients with PUs, evidence to use any nonpharmacologic therapy to increase the rates of wound healing is inconclusive, except for low quality evidence that supports the use of electrotherapy. This situation is especially alarming for interventions that are usually standard clinical practice (repositioning, support surfaces). Although there is some evidence in younger populations and other types of ulcers, studies in older populations with PUs using sound methodology are needed.

Spinal cord injury pressure ulcer treatment: an experience-based approach.

Pressure ulcers continue to impact the lives of spinal cord injury patients severely. Pressure ulcers must be accurately staged according to National Pressure Ulcer Advisory recommendations before treatment design. The first priority in treatment of pressure ulcers is offloading. Intact skin ulcers may be treated with noncontact nonthermal low-frequency ultrasound. Superficial pressure ulcers may be treated with a combination of collagenase and foam dressings. Deeper pressure ulcers warrant negative-pressure wound therapy dressings along with biologic adjuncts to fill in wound depth. Discovery and treatment of osteomyelitis is a high priority when initially evaluating pressure ulcers. Surgical intervention must always be considered.

Úlceras por pressão isquiáticas com osteomielite: tratamento com isquiequitomia / Ischiatic pressure ulcers with osteomyelitis: treatment with ischiectomy

Introdução: Úlceras por pressão isquiáticas são lesões de difícil tratamento e altas taxas de recidivas, principalmente quando associadas à osteomielite. Para o seu adequado manejo, impõe-se a necessidade de equipe multidisciplinar, apoiada no reconhecimento clínico e radiológico do comprometimento ósseo, antibioticoterapia adequada, suporte nutricional, terapia hiperbárica e tratamento cirúrgico com amplo debridamento e cobertura de partes moles, com técnicas de reconstrução. Método: O presente trabalho foi baseado em 18 pacientes cadeirantes e portadores de úlceras por pressão com osteomielite associada, todos submetidos a tratamento cirúrgico e acompanhados por um período de pós-operatório de 6 meses a 5 anos e 4 meses, no período de fevereiro de 2004 a junho de 2009. Estes pacientes foram submetidos à técnica de isquiectomia modificada, com preservação da inserção do músculo gracilis, e subsequente cobertura cutânea com variadas técnicas isoladas ou associadas de retalhos cutâneos, fasciocutâneos, musculares, e miocutâneos. Resultados: O trabalho demonstra que a ampla isquiectomia é o ponto crucial para a resolução do processo infeccioso ósseo, e a possibilidade da utilização do retalho muscular do músculo gracilis, associado ou não a outras técnicas de reconstrução, é uma opção técnica, no sentido de ocluir a lacuna óssea e proporcionar a entrada da antibioticoterapia adjuvante.

Introduction: Ischiatic pressure ulcers are lesions of difficult treatment and high relapse rates, especially when associated with osteomyelitis. For their adequate handling, the need of a multidisciplinary team is essential, based on the clinical and radiological recognition of the osseous jeopardy, adequate antibiotic therapy, nutritional support, hyperbaric therapy and surgical treatment comprising a wide range debridement and coverage of the soft parts, using reconstructive techniques. Methods: The present work is based on 18 handcaps patients who are wheel chair users and have ischial pressure ulcers associated with osteomyelitis, all of them submitted to surgical treatment and a post-surgical follow upperiod from 6 months to 5 years and 4 months, during the period from February, 2004 to June, 2009. These patients were submitted to the modified ischiectomy technique, with preservation of the insertion of the gracilis muscle, and subsequent cutaneous coverage with varied techniques, isolated or associated with cutaneous, fasciocutaneous, muscularisand, myocutaneous flaps. Results: The present work states that extended ischiectomy is the most important point for the resolution of the osseous infective process, and the possibility of using the gracile muscle muscularis flap, associated or not with other reconstruction techniques is a technical option, in the sense of occluding the osseous lacuna and allowing the use of adjuvant antibiotic therapy.