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Clinical Research
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Oasis wound matrix versus moist wound dressing in the treatment of difficult-to-heal wounds of mixed arterial/venous aethiology M. Romanelli, V. Dini, M. Bertone, C. Brilli, Wound Healing Research Unit, Department of Dermatology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy Introduction.Difficult to heal wounds are problematic from clinical, humanistic, and economic perspectives. Such wounds often require a high level of care for many months, and even then many fail to heal. In difficult to heal wounds, active treatments that stimulate the wound healing process are needed to expedite development of a viable extracellular matrix, angiogenesis, cellular growth, and ultimately wound closure. Materials and Methods.In this prospective, randomized study, we compared the effects of a standard moist wound dressing (petrolatum impregnated gauze) to Oasis, a bioactive material comprising the major structural and functional components of the extracellular matrix along with growth factors for the stimulation of healing. Patients included 42 adults (19M-23F; mean age: 68.3 years) with lower leg ulcers of mixed arterial/venous (A/V) aethiology. Patients were randomized to one of the two treatments and followed weekly for up to 12 weeks. Results.Patients treated with Oasis showed a mean time to healing of 5.4 weeks, compared with 8.3 weeks for patients treated with moist wound dressing (P = 0.02). Oasis treatment was also associated with a significant increase in the amount of granulation tissue at week 8 compared with moist dressing (P< 0.05). The mean time to dressing change was 5.2 days in the Oasis-treated group compared with 2.1 days in the moist wound group (P< 0.05). None of the patients in either group reported discomfort or showed signs of local infection or inflammation during the study. Oasis was easy to apply and well accepted by patients. Conclusions.Thus, in this preliminary study of patients with mixed A/V ulcers, treatment with Oasis was superior to moist wound dressings in promoting the development of granulation tissue and wound closure. |
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