Press Release
Best in Class: Scottsdale Wound Management Guide
Comprehensive pocket handbook offers differential diagnosis and treatment options at your fingertips
Malvern, PA (June 8, 2009) – Proper wound care management has become one of the top concerns for many clinicians across various medical specialties. Treatment is specific to the wound type, the patient and the long-term care plan and requires ongoing assessment. Read More
2009 Author Index
Non-Accredited Education
Taking the Trauma Out of Burn Trauma
Complimentary On-Demand Webcast
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The Importance of Advanced Dressing Technology in Managing Wounds and the Risk of Infection
Complimentary On-Demand Webcast
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Heel Pressure Ulcers: A to Z
Complimentary On-Demand Webcast
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LIVE WEBCAST - Head Over Heels and Butts 3.0
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OWM Blogs
Synthetic material revs up blood clotting at low cost
The search always goes on for better hemostatics. While a red-hot piece of iron has always worked well, the recipients of such treatment never show much enthusiasm for the same. For surface bleeding we have a variety of hemostatic approaches such as thermal cautery, electrocautery, topical hemostats such as Monsel’s solution or aluminum chloride, firbrin - thrombin mixes (at great cost), alginates and collagen dressing, chitin, and starch and clay based products among others we mix and match. New additions are always welcome.
Antimicrobial polymer suitable to combat growing MRSA infections
Eradicating devices associated MRSA infections is a tall order and an impressive claim if it indeed works. I was so intrigued that I Googled the patent number and found http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/7772296.html (though I could also have gone directly to uspto.gov and search for the patent directly!) and was impressed by what I found.
Is Gauze a Standard of Care?
As we continue to use science to expose common nonsense, we ask, Have you ever seen controlled clinical trials that used gauze or impregnated gauze as a “standard of care” control? Half a century ago, we learned that chronic1 and acute2 human wounds heal faster if kept moist. Since then, considerable research showed that moist wound environments for acute or chronic, partial- or full-thickness wounds reduce infection rates,3 pain,4,5 healing time,5,6 and costs of care7,8 compared to gauze.
Weird Science
In the 1975 cult classic, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” the classic dialog between Sir Belvedere and a peasant takes place as follows:
Sir Bedevere: What makes you think she's a witch?
Peasant: Well, she turned me into a newt!
Sir Bedevere: A newt?
Peasant: [meekly after a long pause] ... I got better.
Crowd: [shouts] Burn her anyway! 1
An International Affair
Having recently been requested to present the Keynote address at the Israeli Diabetic Foot Society meeting slated for October 28-29, 2010 in Tel Aviv, I recognize that this is both a pleasure and an honor to share my experiences with the Israeli wound care community. This symposium will run concurrently with the Israeli Wound Healing Society and the themes of both meetings will be wound healing.
My Experience in Haiti
I had the honor and privilege of volunteering in Haiti through the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC) with the University of Miami Global Institute and Project Medishare in association with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Haiti Relief Volunteer Program. I was there from March 8-15, 2010. While many people have already gone to help the victims of this devastating earthquake, many of you would still like to go. First and foremost, it is important to realize that Haiti is still in need of volunteers. There is a void of assistance that remains.
Letter to the Editor
With thanks to the OWM Board members who responded to a call for help from the gentleman with a troublesome ileostomy:
Dear Barbara:
Realizing your days are pretty full still I wanted to take your time to thank you for encouraging me to try to improve quality of life by seeking some treatment for my current problem.
Your board members suggested maybe pounchitis as the cause since I was having constant cramps. I researched [and found] a site suggesting diet could help (your first impulse via telephone), suggesting eliminating sugar and wheat. I did so and cramps ceased, thanks.
Change in Attitude
Dar Williams and I drove to work yesterday with the windows half-way down and the sun roof angled open to a crystal blue sky and comfortably cool early summer temperatures. Sixteen miles door-to-door was hardly enough — I could have driven for hours, far past the office to ... oh, maybe California (only 3,000 miles away). It was that kind of morning.
Does Time Heal All Wounds?
While conducting a study to see if an evidence-based algorithm for wound care worked in the real world,1 we noticed that some patients’ wounds stopped progressing when nearly healed. Data analysis showed that their caregivers were switching to gauze dressings. When asked why, they said it was “because the wound was almost healed and didn’t need evidence-based dressings any more.” The care-givers were acting as though time would heal the wounds.
Today we know this is nonsense. Those caregivers might have changed their minds about time healing wounds if they had tracked pr
How Much Pain Can You Bear?
Have you ever been in so much pain that you wished you would die? Imagine that you are an 88-year-old man with lung cancer that has spread to both your brain and your spine. You attempt to sleep but the pain keeps you awake. You resort to the recliner but that feels no better than the bed. You pace the floors trying to get away from the pain but there just does not seem to be any way to get comfortable. You are faced with such trying agony day after day. Some people may not think that this scenario actually occurs in America with our bounty of modern medical techniques. Others may be more will
“It’s Gettysburg”….
Dr. John Macdonald arrived 2 days after the earthquake. With more than 10.5 million
people affected (240,000 died in the first hours), considering population and country size, it is believed to be the greatest, recorded, natural disaster in history.
In the hastily created University of Miami tent hospital, in the first hours, we had 7 physicians, no nurses, and minimal medical supplies for 150 + patients — men, women, and children, many sudden orphans. Without the most basic of medical supplies, our small team, collectively, was overcome by a feeling of worthlessness. As we moved fro
Straight talk about dressing MTVR
We’ve all experienced opinions that don’t make sense but are repeated so often they are generally accepted. I call these “Common Nonsense” after Tom Paine’s famous pamphlet Common Sense that helped foment US independence. By questioning authority, we open our minds to learning nature’s truths and applying them to improve patient outcomes. If we don’t learn, natural truths continue to baffle us with poor outcomes, making life a puzzle we don’t understand. Scientific method helps us learn without bias what nature tells us so all who dare can follow.
Let’s start with dress
Diabetic Foot Care: The State of Play in India
The prevalence of diabetes is rapidly increasing and is expected to reach epidemic proportions over the next decade. Today, nearly 246 million people worldwide are diagnosed with diabetes, with India accounting for almost 45 million of those diagnoses. This number is expected to increase to 73 million by the year 2025 and India was deemed the diabetic capital of the world at the International Diabetes Federation Conference in Copenhagen in November 2006. Diabetes is associated with a plethora of complications with foot ulcerations being the most common. An estimated 15% of all patients suffe
Ten Tips for the SAWC Attendees
It’s that time of year again …. not President’s Day, Valentine’s Day, or any other February occasion. It’s the upcoming Spring Equinox — how I refer to the Spring Symposium for Advanced Wound Care (the SAWC). The days get longer and longer and busier in preparing for the conference.
Members of the Association for Advancement in Wound Care (AAWC) who serve on a committee are gearing up for this premier event. The Association depends on volunteers to champion on behalf of the specialty of wound care. Some volunteers serve for only a few hours each year, manning the AAWC booth for
New Year’s Resolution
I don’t have a Kindle or own a device that features a pleasant-sounding person giving me directions from Point A to Point B. Sometimes, getting lost leads to new and unexpected things in life. My professional career into wound, ostomy and continence care began because I had a supervisor who “ordered” me into the specialty when a colleague retired. I was lost at first but gained direction through a variety of street signs in the form of journals, conferences, and mentors. These were my professional Garmin. I laugh about it now because I while I thought that I was misdirected, in the cours
A New Kind of Symposium
On Kalendae, the first day of the month, debts were due in ancient Rome. Accounting books were called calendarium from which we derive the word “calendar.” In Roman tradition, financial institutions today send calendars to their clients. I paged through one of the dozen or so 2010 calendars I received this year. How many wound care meetings could I possibly attend? It is difficult to leave a busy practice for even a short time. Hospitals are cutting travel budgets. This begs the question: Do we need eight to ten wound care meetings per year in addition to the Olympian World Union every
Ghostwriting
Do you know any ghosts? There are numerous programs on television and movies about ghosts. My favorite is still Casper the Friendly Ghost. I know I should have outgrown him, but I am not a fan of the scary ghost stories and movies currently in vogue. Do you know any ghosts? Sounds like a silly question, but you may have a ghost for a colleague or friend—at least a ghostwriter. In my opinion, ghostwriting in medical literature can take at least three forms—1) when someone claims to have written an article and there is no evidence it exists, 2) when someone is listed on a published art
Your Role in Guideline Validation
Laura Bolton, PhD
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Surgery, Bioengineering Section
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
Retired after 32 years in wound care science, I am devoted to ensuring patients receive care based on the best available evidence. As so many OWM readers have taught me, we all are responsible for helping patients. During my post-retirement years, I plan to summarize wound care evidence to make it simple and easy for busy professionals to apply and use to improve patient outcomes. This is why I agreed to serve on the OWM Editorial
FedEx to Wound Care
Paula Kreissler, President/Owner, Wound Care Clinic - ESU, Inc.
This first entry is to give you an overview of what I/we do. I own and operate two independent out-patient wound care clinics. One clinic is in Savannah, GA and the other is about 15 miles northwest of Savannah in Pooler, GA. We opened our doors first in Savannah in April 2005 and then due to growth we opened the Pooler office in July 2007. I do not have a medical background but found myself wanting to start a small business after having just spent 25 years at FedEx … most of those years in operations managem
Introduction
By Barbara Zeiger, Editorial Director, Wound Division Executive Editor, Ostomy Wound Management HMP Communications, Malvern, PA
So how is it that a middle-aged woman with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education rises through the ranks of a medical publishing company to become its leading journal’s Executive Editor and then Editorial Director of her division?
It all started when I wrote my first poem in fourth grade (“January starts off the year/February brings love and cheer….”). I realized then that writing would always be part of my life. I graduated from Temple Universit
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