November, 2003

Dear Readers:

In this issue is another letter to the editor regarding, “Healing rate as a prognostic indicator of complete healing: A reappraisal,” by Donohue and Falanga [Wounds 2003;15(3):A16–18]. This article and topic have spurred considerable discussion, as the implications of using healing rate as an outcome measure are so important. Feldman and Jennings write in their letter that the Food and Drug Administration will always require the measure of time to heal until clinicians can agree on a “true healing rate” as an outcome measure. They go on to discus

Disclosures: Dr. Wendelken is a consultant for Biosound Ultrasound Co., part owner of Hudson Diagnostic Imaging, and owner and inventor of the ultrasound device used in this study.

Introduction

Developments in advanced wound care have concentrated on wound treatments and therapies. There has been little progress in the field of wound assessment and diagnostics. Clinicians have had to rely on clinical expertise and invasive methods to inspect pathology before making decisions about wound etiology and wound complications. Using diagnostic ultrasound, a novel technique has be

Disclosure: This study was financially supported by ConvaTec, a Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Princeton, New Jersey.

Introduction

The management of chronic wounds represents a significant burden, not only in terms of direct costs to healthcare services[1,2] but also in terms of pain, economic loss, and impaired quality of life experienced by patients. Any open wound is at risk of infection with potentially pathogenic organisms,[3–7] which may delay the healing process with resultant increases in trauma to the patient and burden of wound care. Prevention of infection has drive

Case report. This wound appeared on a 67-year-old woman 24 hours after she had a bowel resection for acute incarcerated hernia. She was in the intensive care unit for postoperative recovery due to shock with pulmonary failure and ventilatory dependence. Differential diagnosis of the sacral lesion included infarct, perirectal abscess, cellulitis, fracture of the sacrum, pilonidal disease, cautery burn, and prep solution burn. Infarct remained on the differential diagnosis list to be ruled out based upon the deterioration of the wound. There was no history of abdominal pain or rect

Higher Cure Rates and Fewer Amputations in Patients Treated with Zyvox™ Tablets

Pfizer’s antibiotic ZYVOX™ (linezolid injections, tablets, and for oral suspension) may be more effective and may potentially decrease both hospital length of stay and cost of outpatient treatment of skin and soft tissue infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) compared to intravenous (IV) vancomycin. In addition, ZYVOX tablets decreased lower-extremity amputations compared to vancomycin. Findings from this open-label study were presented at the annual meeting of the Infectio