Advances in Wound Care

Cerium nitrate (CeN) plus silver sulfadiazine (SSD) cream has been used for 40-plus years to manage burns. CeN produces a hardened eschar believed to resist bacterial colonization/infection. To evaluate this potential mechanism, we treated in vitro skin models or Pseudomonas aeruginosa with CeN and measured mechanical properties of the models and bacterial virulence, respectively.

We treated three-dimensional-collagen matrix and ex-vivo–burned porcine skin with CeN and evaluated stiffness and P. aeruginosa penetration. In addition, we treated P. aeruginosa with CeN and evaluated the bacteria's motility, skin model penetration, susceptibility to be phagocytized by the human monocytic cell line THP-1, and ability to stimulate this cell line to produce cytokines.

CeN treatment of skin models stiffened them and made them resistant to P. aeruginosa penetration. Inversely, CeN treatment of P. aeruginosa reduced their motility, penetration through skin models (ex-vivo–burned porcine skin), and ability to stimulate cytokine production (tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α] and interleukin 8 [IL-8]) by THP-1 cells. In addition, CeN-treated Pseudomonas was more readily phagocytized by THP-1 cells. Finally, P. aeruginosa inoculated on CeN-treated ex-vivo–burned porcine skin was more susceptible to killing by a silver dressing.

In vitro skin models offer a platform for screening drugs that interfere with bacterial penetration into wounded tissue.

CeN treatment reduced P. aeruginosa virulence, altered the mechanical properties of ex-vivo–burned porcine skin and collagen matrix, retarded penetration of P. aeruginosa through the skin models, and resulted in increased vulnerability of P. aeruginosa to killing by antimicrobial wound dressings. These data support the use of CeN in burn management.

Pressure injury (PI) is a common critical presentation in intensive care units (ICU) and is an important clinical concern in critical care settings. Some developing data support the vasoconstrictor agent administration as a potential risk factor; however, synthesis of available evidence has not been completed.

Comprehensive tactics were employed to search electronic databases PubMed, Web of Science, and Ovid Embase for data on vasoconstrictor agent administration associated with PI in ICU patients. Extraction was limited to studies that matched the inclusion criteria. The pooled odds ratio and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated for dichotomous outcomes.

Twenty-six studies were included, involving 50,192 patients who matched the selection criteria. Around 5.8% of patients (2,523/43,210) got PI in total. PI occurred in 10.9% (1,496/13,675) of the vasoconstrictor agent administration population and 3.5% (1,027/29,503) of the drug-free population. The pooled unadjusted odds ratio was 2.83 (95% CI = 2.21–3.64, p < 0.001). The adjusted odds ratio was 1.83 (95% CI = 1.26–2.68, p = 0.002). Subgroup analysis and meta-regression found that the risk of PI did not vary with research design, time of occurrence, patient age, or male proportion.

Vasoconstrictor agent administration raised the risk of PI in critical care patients by nearly twofold. More emphasis should be placed on the timely prevention of PI in patients receiving vasoconstrictor agent administration in the ICU.

Tissue-engineered artificial skin for clinical reconstruction can be regarded as an established practice. Bi-layered skin equivalents are available as established allogenic or autologous therapy, and various acellular skin replacements can support tissue repair. Moreover, there is considerable commonality between the skin and other soft tissue reconstruction products. This article presents an attempt to create a comprehensive global landscape review of advanced replacement materials and associated strategies for skin and soft tissue reconstruction.

There has been rapid growth in the number of commercial and pre-commercial products over the past decade. In this survey, 263 base products for advanced skin therapy have been identified, across 8 therapeutic categories, giving over 350 products in total. The largest market is in the United States, followed by the E.U. zone. However, despite these advances, and the investment of resources in each product development, there are key issues concerning the clinical efficacy, cost-benefit of products, and clinical impact. Each therapeutic strategy has relative merits and limitations.

A critical consideration in developing and evaluating products is the therapeutic modality, associated regulatory processes, and the potential for clinical adoption geographically, determined by regulatory territory, intellectual property, and commercial distribution factors. The survey identifies an opportunity for developments that improve basic efficacy or cost-benefit.

The economic pressures on health care systems, compounded by the demands of our increasingly ageing population, and the imperative to distribute effective health care, create an urgent global need for effective and affordable products.