Case Series

The Use of an Absorbable Polyvinyl/Polymeric Silver Dressing in the Treatment of Venous Ulcers: A Pilot Study

10/10/2018

BACKGROUND: The treatment of chronic venous ulcers continues to be a challenge. Appropriate compression therapy is the gold standard for these problems but managing the multiple issues with the wound bed remains a treatment challenge. A new absorbable polyvinyl/polymeric silver dressing has been introduced in an attempt to improve healing in patients with venous ulcers.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of this unique product on patients with venous ulcers, the authors treated 10 patients with weekly applications of the product combined with compression bandaging for 4 weeks to evaluate the effect on wound healing.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This product is composed of an ultrathin matrix and both ionic and metallic silver, which provide local antimicrobial activity for up to 3 days. Because of its thickness of only 20 microns, it easily conforms to the wound bed and maintains a moist wound environment conducive to new blood vessel formation, granulation tissue development, and cell growth. Since it is bioresorbable, there is no need to remove it from the wound bed, making wound dressing changes easy and painless.

RESULTS: The patient group included 6 men and 4 women with an average age of 63 years (range, 41–78 years). All patients had venous ulcers present > 6 months and all ulcers were slow to respond to conventional therapy. At the end of the 4-week evaluation period, 9 of the patients had shown a significant improvement in healing with an average of 48% closure (range, 25%–100%). No patient developed a clinical wound infection. One patient had a 50% increase in ulcer size over the same time. All patients were satisfied with the lack of pain at the dressing changes.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on these preliminary results, the authors recommend further evaluation and use of this new product for the treatment of venous ulcers.

CITATION
Treadwell T, Walker D, Taylor M, Pickens A, Baker J. The use of an absorbable polyvinyl/polymeric silver dressing in the treatment of venous ulcers: a pilot study. Poster presented at: Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Fall; November 2-4, 2018; Las Vegas, NV.

Product: MicroLyte Ag (Imbed Biosciences, Inc, Fitchburg, WI)

This abstract was not subject to the WOUNDS peer-review process.