Use of Native Collagen in Various Presenting Foot Ulcerations

Background: There are a variety of causes in the development of chronic wounds affecting the foot. Etiologies include: traumatic, neuropathic, vascular, pressure induced, and mixed. Chronic wounds, regardless of the etiology, demonstrate similar characteristics that prevent healing including: low mitotic activity of cells, increased inflammatory cytokines, increased metalloproteases, and senescent cells. Mitigating these factors can expedite wound healing producing improved quality of life to the patient and cost savings to the health care delivery system.

Objective: In this case series, we present wounds of various treated with a native collagen dressing consisting of 90% collagen and 10% alginate.

Methods: This selected case series consists of patients with chronic ulcerations with different etiologies treated with a native collagen dressing changed daily. Fourteen patients with fifteen ulcerations (one patient had an ulceration on their foot and an ulceration on their lateral ankle) were followed and monitored until epithelialization was achieved. The size of the ulceration, location, etiology, time to healing, and number of applications were recorded. There were 15 ulcerations who underwent application of the native collagen product with the average length of the ulcerations 2.43 cm (range 0.8cm-9cm) and the average width 1.52 cm (range 0.36-12.5cm).

Results: Of the 15 ulcerations, 9 of them were derived from neuropathic pressure, 3 were due to venous stasis and 2 were due to surgical wound disturbances. The patients needed, on average, 2.43 (range from 1-6 applications) applications. Two patients were lost to follow-up leaving nine of the twelve patients to go on to complete epithelialization across the ulcerations.

Conclusion: The use of a collagen dressing consisting of 90% collagen and 10% alginate stimulated epithelialization across chronic ulcerations of various etiologies.