Moving the chronic wound along the healing trajectory

Chronic wounds are an ever-growing challenge for clinicians and represent a
huge burden on healthcare resources (Harding, 2002). They have been referred
to as a silent epidemic that is affecting a large number of people in the world
population (Gottrup, 2004). However, due to a better understanding of what
makes a wound chronic, several new treatments that offer better outcomes
for the patient and a broader choice for the clinician have been developed
(Harding, 2002). A sterile, non-adherent, slough-trapping, poly-absorbent fibre
dressing with the technologie lipido-colloïde (TLC) healing matrix to promote
wound healing and enable pain-free dressing changes, which can be used for
gentle desloughing, has been developed by Urgo. The slough-trapping fibres
(poly-absorbent) have been shown to bind and trap the slough within the
dressing, providing safe and effective desloughing (Kelly et al, 2013), while the
silver lipido-colloid matrix in the antimicrobial version, has been established
in its efficacy in the management of chronic wounds presenting with a risk
of infection as demonstrated through previous randomised controlled trials
(Harding et al, 2012; Lazareth et al, 2012).