Advanced Technologies
Bioengineered Skin Grafts
One of the technologies available at the Wound Care Center is Apligraf “Graftskin” Therapy. Graftskin is a living bi-layered skin construct designed to mimic human skin. Graftskin plus compression therapy has proven superior to compression therapy alone, resulting in faster wound closure and less recurrence of ulcers in patients. In a venous leg ulcer (VLU) study, mean time to closure with Graftskin versus compression therapy alone showed a reduction of nearly 50% with ulcer recurrence rate being reduced from 30% to 21%. Furthermore, in a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) study, the mean time to 100% wound closure was only 38.5 days with Graftskin versus 91 days with standard treatment.
IV Antibiotics
Intravenous antibiotics are very important in the management of persistent wounds. By giving antibiotics through the vein, very high doses of antibiotics can be achieved, which are necessary to suppress the infection that is on the surface of most wounds. By suppressing this infection, the normal healing processes can heal wounds faster and better. For this reason, IV antibiotics are provided within the Wound Care Center.
Quorum-sensing Inhibitors
In the last year, scientists have broken the code that bacteria use to communicate with one another. Disrupting this communication prevents bacteria from forming colonies on wounds that keep them from healing. The medicines that are being developed to prevent bacteria from organizing on the surface of the wound are called quorum-sensing inhibitors. For gram-positive bacteria such as methicillin resistant staph aureus, which is a major problem in chronic wounds, RNA 3 inhibitory peptide has been developed. For gram-negative infections, which tend to develop in institutions like nursing homes and hospitals, a product called furanone C30 has been developed. There are also many other products such as lactoferrin, which block the organization of bacteria on the wound. These new products have been highly successful in healing wounds and salvaging limbs.
