Clinician Experience Using a Novel Silver-Containing Gelling Fiber Primary Dressing

Introduction: Management of exudate and infection are two important but challenging principles in the treatment of chronic wounds. Excessive exudate or high bacterial burden in wounds may stimulate an inflammatory response, cause mechanical damage to periwound skin, and contribute to delayed healing time of wounds. Selection of an appropriate dressing is critical to maintaining an optimal wound bed environment. The ideal dressing should be inexpensive, easily acquired, absorptive, and atraumatic.    

Methods: We present our experience using a novel silver-containing gelling fibre dressing*. This gelling fibre (GF) dressing* contains a HydrolockÒ technology with high retention capacity so it can be left in place for up to 7 days while maintaining its antimicrobial effect. The GF dressing* was evaluated through wound closure rate, periwound irritation, and patient experience.       

Results: We report experience using the GF dressing* as a primary dressing in six patients with chronic wounds. Four patients were diagnosed with radiation induced ulcers and two were diagnosed with venous leg ulcers. Average length of use was 9 weeks. Sites of application were scalp, breast, back, and leg. All patients reported comfortability, ease of use, and no pain upon removal of the dressing with good exudate control. 67% of patients demonstrated improvement in wound size while using the GF dressing*.      

Discussion: Overall, the GF dressing* was shown to be efficacious in terms of exudate management in chronic wounds. This series was limited by small sample size and inability to control for adjuvant therapies. Larger, prospective, controlled studies are needed to validate these preliminary findings and investigate the effect of the dressings on the wounds.