Treatment of Nonhealing Ulcers with an Allograft/Xenograft Substitute: A Case Series.
Tobias Sivlér, Petter Sivlér, Mårten Skog and 2 others
PMID 29889104WHAT IT FOUND
Eight patients with nonhealing lower-limb ulcers treated with eiratex dressing and compression had a reported mean healing time of 43 days and used 1.7 dressings each.
No control group means this cannot show the dressing worked.
Key findings
01Eight patients with lower-extremity ulcers were included and treated with eiratex dressing plus standard compression therapy.
02Mean healing time was 43 ± 6 days after first application, with a minimum of 18 days and a maximum of 73 days.
03The mean number of dressings used per patient was 1.7 ± 0.2, and the authors reported a dressing-change frequency of 0.24 dressing per week.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only eight patients were included, so the results are descriptive and cannot show that the dressing caused healing or fewer dressing changes. There was no control group or randomisation, so outcomes may reflect standard compression, debridement, antibiotics, or natural healing. All patients also received standard compression therapy, and some had surgical debridement or antibiotics, so the effect of eiratex alone cannot be separated. The authors compared their results with studies of different wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers and pressure injuries, which are not direct controls. Patients with exposed bone, muscle, ligaments, or tendons, and patients with mental disorders, were excluded, so the findings may not apply to more complex or less able-to-consent patients. The dressing cost comparison used assumptions about dressing area, nurse time, and wage, not measured costs from this case series.
Declared interests
The paper states that the wound dressings were acquired free of charge from S2Medical AB.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 43-day mean healing time or 0.24 dressing changes per week as evidence that eiratex works. Eight patients had no control group and also received compression therapy, with some debridement or antibiotics.