This paper is the sequel to that published in the May 2005 edition of WOUNDS¹ that described the evaluation of an  aliamide-containing gel in the treatment of dermatological wounds by utilization of developments in high resolution ultrasonography (HRU) to estimate decreasing volume of the healing wound over time without interfering with the healing process. In both animal and clinical studies the quantification of healing when attempting to evaluate small differences between experimental and control groups, has always been difficult—particularly when investigating decreasing wound volume over time. As the techniques of ultrasonography have improved, the technology is increasingly being used to produce 2-dimensional scans of tissues, such as those from cardiology, gynecological, nephrological examinations and in this instance, wounds in the skin.
       The results from the 2005 research indicated that there was a necessity to develop algorithms to utilize the data from multiple scans to more reliably quantify wound volume. This has now become possible and the wound volume for experimentally created wounds on the dorsal thoracolumbar areas of 10 Beagle dogs has been calculated from transverse and longitudinal ultrasound images using volume-measuring software based on the disk summation method (modified Simpson’s rule) for evaluation of wound volume. The incorporation of this software into the ultrasound equipment has given the potential for accurate evaluation of wound volume without the necessity of making previous essential assumptions. The authors are now presenting data to illustrate how this scanner software has aided them in the implementation of sophisticated statistical analyses of their data.
       The treatment gel applied to the experimentally created dorsal thoracolumbar wounds contained the aliamide, Adelmidrol. Adelmidrol (N,N'-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)nonandiamide) is used generally as a cosmetic agent in man and animals for application to skin and mucous membranes which are irritable or subject to acute irritation. Aldelmidrol has been formulated into pediatric preparations and those intended for application to atopic dermatoses. Aliamides are synthetic analogues of endogenous fatty acid amides, N-acylethanolamines, and are naturally occurring autacoids known to accumulate in injured tissues.^2,3 Their function is believed to influence the effects of the inflammatory cascade as they are synthesized and released to protect cells and tissues adjacent to the injury from any excessive inflammatory response.³
       High resolution ultrasonography has been used to assess chronic wounds (pressure ulcers, diabetic ulcers, venous ulcers, ischemic wounds, and inflammatory ulcers [eg, due to rheumatoid arthritis, pyoderma gangrenosum, or vasculitis]) in humans and is of value in determining which wounds are healing and which wounds require a different treatment approach. High resolution ultrasonography has been shown to be an accurate and reproducible diagnostic tool that assists the physician with objective diagnosis of wound etiology, leads to much improved quality of life for many patients, and subsequently offers a more appropriate treatment regime for their wound. There is great potential for its use in animal wound management as its noninvasive character leads to decreased anxiety with a consequent increase in concordance demonstrated by both the patient and its owner.

References
1. Mantis P, Lloyd DH, Pfeiffer D, et al. High-resolution ultrasonography of experimentally induced full-thickness canine skin wounds: efficacy in imaging canine skin and comparison of two methods of measuring wound size. WOUNDS. 2005;17(5):107–113.
2. Berdyshev EV, Schmid PC, Dong Z, Schmid HH. Stress-induced generation of N-acylethanolamines in mouse epidermal JB6 P+ cells. Biochem J. 2000;346(Pt 2):369–374.
3. Schmid HH, Schmid PC, Natarajan V. N-acylated glycerophospholipids and their derivatives. Prog Lipid Res. 1990;29(1):1–43.