Effect of electrical stimulation on chronic wound healing: a meta-analysis

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to quantify the effect of electrical stimulation on chronic wound healing. Fifteen studies, which included 24 electrical stimulation samples and 15 control samples, were analyzed. The average rate of healing per week was calculated for the electrical stimulation and control samples. Ninety-five percentage confidence intervals were also calculated. The samples were then grouped by type of electrical stimulation device and chronic wound and reanalyzed. Rate of healing per week was 22% for electrical stimulation samples and 9% for control samples. The net effect of electrical stimulation was 13% per week, an increase of 144% over the control rate. The 95% confidence intervals of the electrical stimulation (18-26%) and control samples (3.8-14%) did not overlap. Electrical stimulation was most effective on pressure ulcers (net effect = 13%). Findings regarding the relative effectiveness of different types of electrical stimulation device were inconclusive. Although electrical stimulation produces a substantial improvement in the healing of chronic wounds, further research is needed to identify which electrical stimulation devices are most effective and which wounds respond best to this treatment.

[The third venous system of the lower extremity and its clinical significance]

In deep venous thrombotic and aplasia cases superficial veins become dilated. With the resulting incompetence of the valves, venous blood stream is not directed to the heart, but to the ankle as well. In these cases the superficial system does not support the venous drainage of the limb, but gives a further load. The question is if one can ameliorate the venous drainage with removal of insufficient varicose veins, or does it make the outcome worse? A new examination was developed to determine if collateral veins in the subfascial space are enough to drain the venous blood of the limb. A tensiometer cuff was placed on the limb and inflated. The patient was asked to walk, if it was performed without complaints then the results was negative and the superficial veins were removed. In these cases no venous disturbances were detected during the operation or following that, in spite of the absence of deep venous circulation and radical removal of varicose venous bed. It means, that in the absence of deep venous circulation develops a collateral circulation not only in the subcutaneous, but in the subfascial space as well and it can alone maintain the venous drainage of the limb, this is the third venous system of the leg.

Economic evaluation of the treatment of chronic wounds: hydroactive wound dressings in combination with enzymatic ointment versus gauze dressings in patients with pressure ulcer and venous leg ulcer in Germany

OBJECTIVE

The treatment costs for pressure ulcers and venous leg ulcers were estimated based on the hospital administrator's perspective in Germany.

DESIGN

A spreadsheet model using input data from various hospitals in Germany was developed.

INTERVENTIONS

Five currently used treatment strategies were analysed: gauze, impregnated gauze, calcium alginate and hydroactive wound dressing with enzymatic ointment.

PARTICIPANTS

All cases used for and in the analysis were treated in the inpatient setting (4 hospitals and 120 patients were included).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES AND RESULTS

The outcome distributions were calculated using the Monte Carlo method. For the whole treatment process, the attributable costs for the hospital were calculated for different cases (severity) and all treatment strategies (1997 values). The costs for treatment with gauze were the highest, whereas the costs for treatment with hydroactive wound dressings and enzymatic ointment were the lowest. The relation between personnel and material costs for gauze is approximately 95 to 5% and for hydroactive wound dressings 67 to 33%, respectively. The cost savings per case were between 1196 deutschmark (DM) and DM9826 using hydroactive wound dressings instead of gauze dressings (depending on the severity of the pressure ulcer), and between DM135 and DM677 for venous leg ulcers. The results were robust and did not change in any performed sensitivity analysis (parameter: 'personnel costs per minute', 'time required for changing a wound dressing', 'total number of wound dressing changes').

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the higher material costs of the hydroactive wound dressings in combination with enzymatic wound cleaning compared with other wound dressings, they should be recommended for the treatment of pressure ulcers and venous leg ulcers. This therapy alternative brings about significant reductions in total costs for hospitals because of significant reductions in personnel costs and the duration of treatment.

Risk factors associated with the failure of a venous leg ulcer to heal

BACKGROUND

Venous leg ulcers afflict a significant portion of the population. The most popular form of therapy for venous leg ulcers is a compression bandage (eg, Unna boot), a therapy that is frequently unsuccessful.

OBJECTIVE

To describe risk factors associated with the failure of a wound to heal when treated with a limb-compression bandage for 24 weeks.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Single-center outpatient specialty clinic at an academic medical center.

PARTICIPANTS

Two hundred sixty consecutive patients with chronic venous leg ulcers.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

The magnitude of the effect of a given risk factor on the probability that a wound will heal within 24 weeks of care.

RESULTS

Based on an assessment of leg wounds during initial office visits, we observed that the failure of a wound to heal within 24 weeks was significantly associated with larger wound area, measured in square centimeters (odds ratio [OR], 1.19; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.27), duration of the wound in months (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.04-1.16), history of venous ligation or venous stripping (OR, 4.58; 95% CI, 1.84-11.36), history of hip or knee replacement surgery (OR, 3.52; 95% CI, 1.12-11.08), ankle brachial index of less than 0.80 (OR, 3.52; 95% CI, 1.12-11.08), and the presence of fibrin on more than 50% of the wound surface (OR, 3.42; 95% CI, 1.38-8.45).

CONCLUSIONS

Several risk factors are associated with the failure of a patient's venous leg ulcer to heal while using limb-compression therapy. It is prudent to consider these factors when referring a patient to a wound care subspecialists or for alternative therapies.

Maggot therapy for the treatment of intractable wounds

BACKGROUND

Fly maggots have been known for centuries to help debride and heal wounds. Maggot therapy was first introduced in the USA in 1931 and was routinely used there until the mid-1940s in over 300 hospitals. With the advent of antimicrobiols, maggot therapy became rare until the early 1990s, when it was re-introduced in the USA, UK, and Israel. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of maggot therapy for the treatment of intractable, chronic wounds and ulcers in long-term hospitalized patients in Israel.

METHODS

Twenty-five patients, suffering mostly from chronic leg ulcers and pressure sores in the lower sacral area, were treated in an open study using maggots of the green bottle fly, Phaenicia sericata. The wounds had been present for 1-90 months before maggot therapy was applied. Thirty-five wounds were located on the foot or calf of the patients, one on the thumb, while the pressure sores were on the lower back. Sterile maggots (50-1000) were administered to the wound two to five times weekly and replaced every 1-2 days. Hospitalized patients were treated in five departments of the Hadassah Hospital, two geriatric hospitals, and one outpatient clinic in Jerusalem. The underlying diseases or the causes of the development of wounds were venous stasis (12), paraplegia (5), hemiplegia (2), Birger's disease (1), lymphostasis (1), thalassemia (1), polycythemia (1), dementia (1), and basal cell carcinoma (1). Subjects were examined daily or every second day until complete debridement of the wound was noted.

RESULTS

Complete debridement was achieved in 38 wounds (88.4%); in three wounds (7%), the debridement was significant, in one (2.3%) partial, and one wound (2.3%) remained unchanged. In five patients who were referred for amputation of the leg, the extremities was salvaged after maggot therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Maggot therapy is a relatively rapid and effective treatment, particularly in large necrotic wounds requiring debridement and resistant to conventional treatment and conservative surgical intervention.

Comparative cost-effectiveness of four-layer bandaging in the treatment of venous leg ulceration

This paper reports the results of an analysis designed to estimate the expected annual cost per patient of treating venous leg ulcers, and to evaluate the relative cost-effectiveness of a systematic treatment regimen using a four-layer compression bandaging system (Profore) compared with usual care. A Markov model has been developed which simulates the transition of patients between health states (healed and unhealed) over a 52-week period. Healing rates used in the model are derived from those reported in the literature. By running the model for a cohort of 100 patients over 52 weeks it is possible to estimate expected outcomes and annual budgetary costs for alternative treatment regimens. Results suggest that, when compared with usual care, a systematic treatment regimen using Profore is unambiguously more cost-effective. Patient outcomes are improved and annual treatment costs reduced. An important implication is that failure to co-ordinate treatment policies and to use the most cost-effective treatments may result in substantial inefficiency in the use of NHS resources. This inefficiency could represent the equivalent of between 350,000 Pounds and 1.08 million Pounds annually for a typical health authority.