Advanced Therapies In Wound Management

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,…

NPWT – Removing the Pressure in Wound Management

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 in Wound Management

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…

The Healing Effects of Electrical Stimulation

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…

Wound Care In A Spin – Whirlpool Therapy

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,…

A New Look at the Evidence for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

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…