Abstract: Patients with sickle cell disease and recalcitrant wounds due to trauma, burns, or chronic venous insufficiency are at risk for compromised healing potential. Diminished oxygen supply as a consequence of anemia and ischemia associated with sickle cell disease result in poor wound closure of the affected area. This article will review the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease, particularly as it relates to associated lower extremity wounds. The case study of a 29-year-old man with sickle cell disease is used to present a successful strategy for treating these types of wounds

Abstract: Background: Many dressings are available for local wound care, which can cause variability in dressing choice among physicians and nurses. This hampers optimum dressing selection. The level of agreement among physicians and nurses regarding their choice of gauze-based and occlusive wound dressings for surgical patients with open wounds is compared to selections made by an expert panel. Methods: A panel of wound experts judged 18 representative photos of open wounds in surgical patients to decide which gauze-based and which occlusive dressings were best for each wound. Next, 79 physicians and 63 nurses from the Department of Surgery judged the same wounds. Group kappa values (k) were calculated to assess inter- and intra-observer agreement among physicians and nurses and their agreement with the expert panel choices. Results: Agreement among physicians was poor. The most agreement was found regarding their choice of gauze-based dressings (k = 0.14; 95% confidence interval: 0.0

Abstract: The ideal split-thickness skin graft (STSG) donor site dressing has yet to be discovered. Ideally, such a dressing would be cost effective, maintain a moist environment to facilitate rapid epithelization, and minimize pain. Noncontact, normothermic wound therapy (NNWT) has been shown to hasten healing time in pressure-related wounds, neuropathic wounds, and venous stasis ulcers. In 1 study, NNWT decreased bacterial counts in pressure ulcers. No studies have looked specifically at NNWT to treat STSG donor sites. The authors conducted a prospective trial to compare a NNWT device (Warm-up® Active Wound Therapy, Augustine Medical Inc, Eden Prairie, Minn) to an impregnated gauze dressing control (Xeroform Petrolatum Gauze, The Kendall Company, Mansfield, Mass) for STSG donor site healing in 5 healthy volunteers. Study subjects served as their own controls. Small split grafts (0.012 in) were taken from the upper buttocks bilaterally and either the study or control dressing was appl

Abstract: Aim: The aim of this study was to assess whether polyurethane foam dressings are superior to conventional dressings for promoting early wound healing in debrided wounds of patients with diabetes. Methods: Patients with diabetes who underwent debridement for infections of the lower limb were included in this prospective study. Patients were randomly assigned to a study group and a control group. The study was conducted between January 1, 2005, and July 31, 2005. Foam with a size of 10 mm x 10 cm x 30 cm and Shore hardness of 10 was used for the study group. No topical antibiotics or desloughing ointments were used. Controls were dressed with conventional techniques using antibiotic and hydrocolloid ointments. Dressings were changed daily, and bedside debridement was performed when required. In both groups, the affected limb was strictly offloaded. All patients with wounds that had a surface area > 20 cm2 underwent split skin grafting (SSG). Duration of wound healing was calcul