Cath Lab Digest

  Chronic wounds affect 2.8 million patients in the US and the cost of advanced wound care products is expected to grow to $4.6 billion by 2011.¹ This and the additional costs of loss of income and loss of employment are unbearable for the indigent patient. An investigation was conducted to find a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared, safe, effective, cost-efficient, user-friendly, moist wound healing dressing for use in an indigent outpatient wound clinic.

  Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are implanted into patients with severe heart failure. These mechanical circulatory support devices attach to the left ventricle and pump blood to the aorta. Although the devices have become smaller as technology advances, they still require transcutaneous drivelines to supply power to the pump. The driveline exits the patient’s left or right abdomen.

  Hydradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic, debilitating disorder, sometimes described as a severe form of acne, occurring deep in the skin around sebaceous glands and hair follicles of the axilla, inguinal canal area, and perineum where the apocrine sweat glands are located.¹ Prevalence in the US population is an estimated 1% to 2%, the condition affects more women than men, and onset usually occurs between puberty and 40 years of age. Although the exact pathophysiologic mechanisms are unknown, contributing factors include axillary adiposity, sweat, heat, stress, tight

     The use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT, V.A.C. Therapy®, KCI, San Antonio, TX) has grown rapidly over recent years. The modality creates a healing-friendly environment by promoting the growth of granulation tissue and removing exudate and infectious material. While the evidence base supporting this treatment grows, certain issues specific to NPWT require attention. According to the manufacturer’s specifications and in order to maximize the benefits of NPWT, all devitalized tissue (including eschar and hardened slough) should be removed as thoroughly as possible

     Although many new products promise to heal chronic wounds, few have withstood the test of time. Many wounds continue to fail to progress through an organized healing process of homeostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation, becoming chronic wounds that “fail to proceed through an orderly and timely process to produce anatomic and functional integrity, or proceed through the repair process without establishing a sustained anatomic and functional result.”¹ Such wounds may be “marked by long duration or frequent recurrence”² and differ