Adjunctive Modalities

The term ‘advanced wound therapy’ is sometimes used to describe topical wound products and devices that actively promote wound healing. These wound products and devices typically cost more than other, conventional modalities.1 Examples of advanced therapies include living skin equivalents and topical growth factors, as well as devices that directly change the local wound environment,…

Phototherapy, also known as light therapy, has been used in a healing and medical context since prehistoric times. These days, the source of light energy tends to be dedicated, custom-made medical equipment rather than the sun, but the general principle remains much the same. Ultraviolet (UV) light phototherapy has also been used to treat a…

Wound ischemia is thought to be the most common cause of healing failure in a chronic wound.1 Furthermore, the rate of wound healing can be correlated directly with the level of tissue oxygenation. There is, therefore, a strong rationale for the use of oxygen therapy to promote wound healing in difficult-to-heal wounds.1 Hyperbaric oxygen therapy…

Negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT)  is rapidly becoming a mainstay in chronic wound management.[1] This technique is a topical intervention widely used to treat problematic acute and chronic wounds that do not respond to conventional moist wound healing techniques.  A negative pressure, typically -125 mmHg, is applied to the wound bed, removing excess exudate and helping…

Ultrasound was used successfully for years as a non-invasive diagnostic tool before its potential benefits in wound healing were first investigated.1 Ultrasound waves, formed when electrical energy is converted to sound waves at frequencies above the range of human hearing, are now used routinely in wound management and can be transferred to tissue through a…

Electrical currents within the human skin were discovered as far back as 1860, and it has since been shown that the skin surface is negatively charged compared with the deeper skin layers, and that wounds have a positive potential compared to the surrounding intact skin. Electrical Stimulation Current Types Knowledge of the underlying electrical activity…

The use of irrigation has long been known to reduce bacterial content. Whirlpool therapy, one of the oldest adjuvant forms of treatment for wounds still in use today,1,2 is a popular form of wound irrigation. However, this therapy is gradually being replaced by the technique known as pulsed lavage.2 LJ Haynes Study The move towards…

Whirlpool therapy, or hydrotherapy, is one of the oldest adjuvant forms of treatment for wounds still in use today.1,2 It was originally used in the management of pain, but later found a use in wound management, in particular in the management of burns patients. It is now commonly used to facilitate debridement in infected wounds,…

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is one of those newer wound care techniques that sounds exciting and credible, but which is still somewhat lacking in supporting clinical evidence. The theory behind HBOT is that improving oxygenation around a wound that is currently hypoxic, and therefore slow to heal, may be expected to improve healing rates. As…