Treatment of Burns with Concentrated Surfactant Technology
BACKGROUND: Since the presence of necrosis increases the chances of infection and delays healing, most deeper burns are treated with excision, followed by, depending on the depth, autografting or use of a dressing. Debridement is painful and requires a certain skill level.
OBJECTIVE: A dressing based on concentrated surfactant technology (CST) was assessed with regard to debriding properties and healing trends.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: As a subset of a larger trial, this study included adult patients with different types of burns. All were treated with CST gel and a standard cover dressing.
RESULTS: Twenty-four patients (median age, 40.5 years, 19 concomitant circumstances in total), of which 16 were male, participated in the trial. Sixty-one percent of burns were scalds, grease, or flame and 66% were located on the arm, hand, lower leg, and foot. Ninety-one percent were mixed, deep-partial, or (small) full-thickness with an average total body surface area of 3.4%. Initial debridement was performed with a dermatome (n = 1), enzymes (n = 3), and 20 patients were only treated with the CST. Further treatment was with the CST only. Negative pressure wound therapy was used as an adjunct therapy in 1 patient. On average, 11 wounds healed in 19.5 days, 5 showed significant progress towards reepithelialization with the study time frame, 4 showed no progress, and nonrelated complications developed in 4 patients. Three full-thickness wounds were autografted.
CONCLUSIONS: The CST was used as a means of debridement and treatment for mainly deep- and full-thickness burns. Many of these burns normally are excised and grafted. In this study, 67% of all wounds healed or showed significant progression toward healing without any grafting being necessary. Although the numbers in this pilot study are small, it indicates that CST is a valuable addition to the burn wound treatment options.
CITATION
Pittenger T, Curran D, Hermans MH. Treatment of burns with concentrated surfactant technology. Poster presented at: Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Fall; November 2-4, 2018; Las Vegas, NV.
Product: Plurogel (Medline Industries, Northfield, IL)
This abstract was not subject to the WOUNDS peer-review process.
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