• A V Foster, C Eaton, D O McConville, and M E Edmonds.
• Diabetic Department, King's College Hospital, London, UK.
• Diabet. Med. 1994 Oct 1; 11 (8): 768-72.

AbstractThe aim of the study was to assess the effect of application of OpSite dressings on the pain and quality of life in 33 patients with chronic diabetic neuropathy. The effect of OpSite was compared with no treatment. After a run-in period of 2 weeks, OpSite was applied to one of the painful legs for 4 weeks. This was followed by another period of 4 weeks when OpSite was switched to the opposite leg. Pain was assessed by visual analogue scale and the primary analysis variable was within patient difference in pain between OpSite leg and no treatment leg at week 4 corrected for baseline. Secondary variables were paracetamol pill ingestion and the quality of life dimensions, sleep, mobility, contact discomfort, appetite, and mood. Changes in these variables from baseline to weeks 4 and 8 were analysed. There was a significantly greater reduction in pain in the OpSite treated limbs than the control limbs (p < 0.001). By week 4 paracetamol intake also declined significantly (p = 0.034) and patients experienced a significant improvement in contact discomfort, sleep, mood, appetite, and mobility (p < 0.002 for all 5 variables). OpSite appeared to alleviate the pain associated with diabetic painful neuropathy and thus improved patients' quality of life.

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