Ostomy-Product Selection and Innovations

Abstract

PURPOSE: Understanding the properties of peristomal skin is a critical requirement for the design of ostomy skin barriers. The adhesive properties of skin barriers are often characterized in the laboratory using artificial substrates such as steel or plastic surfaces, and less frequently using normal human skin as the substrate. However, it is not clear how well these measurements can predict adhesive properties on peristomal skin. In this poster, continuing work on the characterization of peristomal skin is described and in particular, the adhesive properties of skin barriers on this skin are presented. METHODS: The differential adhesion of a single commercially available barrier formulation to the peristomal and adjacent normal skin was examined following 1 hour wear time using a previously reported methodology. The biophysical characterization of the skin was accomplished using a battery of well-established noninvasive methods, including Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL), pH, and Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (LSCM). LSCM is a cutting edge skin visualization technique. The noninvasive biophysical measurements were carried out prior to the peel measurements. RESULTS: In the majority of subjects, there was a clear distinction in the peel force required to remove the barrier from peristomal skin compared to normal surrounding skin. Typically, a higher force was required to peel the barrier from the peristomal skin than from the normal skin. Clear distinctions were also observed in some skin properties probed using biophysical characterization methods. CONCLUSIONS: The difference in peel force between the peristomal and adjacent normal skin may be due to decreased loosely adherent stratum corneum cells, changes in skin texture, alteration of biochemistry or some combination. These results indicate that may be scope for improvement of testing methodologies.