Study shows link between prophylactic dressing use and reduction in pressure injury rates

prophylactic dressing pressure injury

A new study shows a clear association between the prophylactic use of five-layer foam sacral dressings and reductions in pressure injury rates. Specifically, the study looked at the prophylactic use of Mölnlycke’s Mepilex® Border Sacrum dressing in the acute care setting over a six-year period (2010-2015). (more…)

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Scientists Seek People with Primary Progressive MS and Other Forms of MS to Study Gut Bacteria

Volunteers are being sought for a major study to help determine how the gut microbiome can be used to treat multiple sclerosis, lupus, and other diseases.

Investigators at the University of California in San Francisco are recruiting people with MS for an international study of the gut microbiome – the population of bacteria in the gut – in MS. They are seeking people with primary progressive MS nationwide (there is no need for onsite visits), as well as people with any other type of MS who can make a one-time visit to San Francisco, New York, Boston or Pittsburgh. The overall purpose of these studies is to investigate the potential role of gut bacteria in MS.

Scientists Focus on Gut Flora for Future Treatments of Autoimmune Diseases

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AlloFuse® Select CM Supports Your Patient’s Healing

ALLOFUSE® CORTICAL FIBERS & ALLOFUSE® FIBER BOAT

AlloFuse® Select CM – clinically proven to activate and support bone formation and can be used in a variety of spinal, neurologic, and orthopedic procedures.

AlloSource, one of the nation’s largest providers of cartilage, bone, skin, soft-tissue, and cellular allografts to advance patient healing in surgical procedures and wound care, today announced the release of AlloFuse® Select CM, a premium addition to AlloSource’s AlloFuse portfolio. (more…)

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Wounds that won’t heal can be devastating

diabetic foot ulcer

Carol Emanuele beat cancer. But for the last two years, the Philadelphia woman has been fighting her toughest battle yet. She has an open wound on the bottom of her foot that leaves her unable to walk and prone to deadly infection.

In an effort to treat her diabetic wound, doctors at a clinic in Northeast Philadelphia have prescribed a dizzying array of treatments. Freeze-dried placenta. Penis foreskin cells. High doses of pressurized oxygen. And those are just a few of the treatment options patients face.

“I do everything, but nothing seems to work,” said Emanuele, 59, who survived stage 4 melanoma in her 30s. “I beat cancer, but this is worse.” (more…)

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Antibiotic use in pressure injury infections

antibiotic overuse pressure injury infection

Antibiotic overuse contributes to the problems of antibiotic resistance and healthcare acquired infections, such as Clostridium difficile. Antibiotic stewardship programs improve patient outcomes, reduce antimicrobial resistance, and save money. These programs are designed to ensure patients receive the right antibiotic, at the right dose, at the right time, and for the right duration. (more…)

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New Approach to Wound Healing Easy on Skin, Tough on Bacteria

wound healing

Washington, D.C. — In a presentation  to the American Chemical Society meeting, Ankit Agarwal, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, described an experimental approach to wound healing that could take advantage of silver’s anti-bacterial properties, while sidestepping the damage silver can cause to cells needed for healing.

Silver is widely used to prevent bacterial contamination in wound dressings, says Agarwal, “but these dressings deliver a very large load of silver, and that can kill a lot of cells in the wound.” (more…)

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How to benefit from electrical stimulation for the treatment of chronic wounds

Electrical Stimulation Therapy

One of the most amazing things about the human body is its ability to repair itself. Lacerations, punctures, abrasions all heal with little or no care. Chronic wounds, those that persist day after day, are a small subset of wounds but they compose a troublesome minority. They include, but are not limited to, diabetic foot ulcers (DFU), venous leg ulcers (VLU), and pressure ulcers (colloquially known as bedsores). These represent the body’s failure to fix itself. (more…)

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Dragon blood may help wounds heal faster

synthetic peptide heal komodo dragon

A new study has identified a peptide, derived from the Komodo dragon, called VK25, which can be synthesized and used as an antimicrobial peptide to promote wound healing.

The new research has identified (see below) a peptide found from the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), called VK25, which appears to be useful as a cationic antimicrobial peptide (CAMP). There is currently considerable interest in antimicrobial peptides in a world where antibiotic effectiveness is in decline. These peptides are potent, broad spectrum antibiotics which demonstrate potential as novel therapeutic agents. (more…)

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‘Miracle’ stem cell treatment heals burns without scarring

renovacare skingun stem cell spray skin

Pennsylvania state trooper Matt Uram was talking with his wife at a July Fourth party in 2009 when a misjudged spray of gasoline burst through a nearby bonfire and set him alight. Flames covered the entire right side of his body, and after he fell to the ground to smother them, his wife beat his head with her bare hands to put out his burning hair. It was only on the way to the ER, as the shock and adrenaline began to wear off, that the pain set in. “It was intense,” he says. “If you can imagine what pins and needles feel like, then replace those needles with matches.” (more…)

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Meeting the nutritional needs of elderly cancer patients

nutritional needs elderly cancer patients food vegetables apple

Although it is described as “one of society’s greatest achievements,” with the aging population, cancer incidence is expected to accelerate rapidly, as 50% of cancer occurs within this age group.(1)

Nutrition therapy is a crucial component of cancer care. Early and continuous nutrition management is necessary to avoid malnutrition, as this is associated with poor clinical outcomes.(2) Often, the elderly already face chronic comorbid conditions, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, kidney disease, bone disease and arthritis, further complicating their care.(3) (more…)

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Flexible Materials Innovations Advances Wound Care

Flexible Materials Innovations Advances Wound Care

The cutting-edge of wound care is a progressively flexible one, where textiles, foams, and films are applied to wound management technology with the goal of synergistic physiological function. These innately intuitive materials underpin the emerging medical solutions that practitioners and their patients are finding more effective than traditional wound care and closure methods. With an aging population more frequently seeking medical care and a surge in diabetes diagnoses, market analysts predict a continuing rise in demand for advanced wound care management products, fueling an annual industry growth rate of 6.4% over the next five years. (more…)

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