Evaluation of the therapeutic efficacy of active specialistic medical dressings in the treatment of decubitus.

Abstract

IntroductionTreatment of decubitus ulcers is a grave medical problem. In many cases, it is difficult to cure a pressure ulcer, especially when it is deep and extensive, and prognosis is usually unfavourable. Treatment of decubitus ulcers requires new specialist dressings, which play an important role in the healing process.AimTo evaluate therapeutic efficacy of active specialist medical dressings in the treatment of decubitus.Material and methodsResearch involved 40 patients – 18 (45%) women and 22 (55%) men, suffering from decubitus ulcers of different size and depth, localized in the sacral region, lasting from 1.5 to 30 months. Patients were randomly assigned to two research groups (20 people each), were treated for 4 weeks with 2 different specialist dressings. ATRAUMAN Ag, which contains silver ions, was used in the first group, while paraffin gauze of BACTIGRAS type was used in the second group. An assessment of pressure ulcers’ healing progress was done with a planimetric method, which evaluates the wound surface area.ResultsThe analysis results showed a significant statistical decrease in an average decubitus ulcer surface area in both research groups: in the first group by 60.2% (p = 0.001), and in the second group by 32.95% (p < 0.001), which speaks in favour of dressings with silver ions as having better therapeutic effectiveness.ConclusionsUsing specialist dressings results in a significant decrease in the decubitus ulcer surface area, depending on the type of dressing and active substances contained within, while silver ions support curative effectiveness of the dressing used.