The Use of an Enhanced Antimicrobial Dressing in the Healing of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers

Introduction: Millions of patients in the US suffer from painful, draining ulcers of the leg. These ulcers are a result of chronic venous insufficiency. These venous leg ulcers (VLUs) typically require weeks or months to heal. Chronic VLUs can often lead to years of pain, decreased quality of life, employment issues, and social isolation of patients. VLUs are plagued by adherent bioburden on the wound base. Bioburden develops when colonies of bacteria exude a protective substance. These colonies are thought to exist in the majority of chronic wounds and are credited with adverse clinical outcomes and delayed healing. 
The enhanced antimicrobial dressing is a silver containing hydrofiber that kills microorganisms held within the dressing. 

Objective: The aim of this series was to evaluate difficult-to-heal venous leg ulcers treated with this enhanced antimicrobial dressing.

Methods:

• Retrospective case series evaluating VLU outcomes using the enhanced antimicrobial dressing
• Wounds were cleansed with saline and underwent sharp debridement as necessary
• First application of the dressing was defined as week 0
• The enhanced antimicrobial dressing was applied weekly using standard technique
• Standard dressings and compression wrapping were used throughout the study
• Patients were seen weekly
• At each clinic visit, wounds were evaluated for size, extent of closure, granulation, and overall appearance
• All images presented were captured after wound cleansing
• All patients gave written approval to include their case in the study

Results and Conclusions:

• The use of the advanced antimicrobial dressing appeared to have a positive impact on outcomes in the management of non-healing VLUs 
  • All patients included in the case series had a positive change in the wound with the use of the enhanced antimicrobial dressing
  • Randomized, controlled trials in a larger sample of patients are required to validate these preliminary findings