International wound journal
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The potential of several drugs for full-thickness skin burns has been investigated, but the treatment of such burns remains a challenge in plastic surgery. The present study was designed to determine the effect of systemic and topical administration of piracetam and nimodipine on full-thickness skin burn wound healing. A total of 36 New Zealand male rabbits were divided into six groups. ⋯ However, both piracetam-IV and piracetam-C significantly enhanced the healing of the full-thickness skin burn wounds, although the latter was more effective, useful and practical in burn wound healing. The histopathological features of the wounds in the piracetam-C group were closer to those of the control group than those of the other groups. Piracetam-C rather than piracetam-IV may promote full-thickness burn wound healing in rabbits.
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The aim of this systematic review was to determine the supporting evidence for the clinical use of hydrogel dressings as a first aid measure for burn wound management in the pre-hospital setting. Two authors searched three databases (Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase and The Cochrane Library) for relevant English language articles published through September 2014. Reference lists, conference proceedings and non-indexed academic journals were manually searched. ⋯ The review highlights that current use of HBD in the pre-hospital setting appears to be driven by sources of information that do not reflect the paramedic environment. We recommend researchers in the pre-hospital settings undertake clinical trials in this field. More so, the review supports the need for expert consensus to identify key demographic, clinical and injury outcomes for clinicians and researchers undertaking further research into the use of dressings as a first aid measure.
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Irrigating wounds with tap water does not increase colonisation, but controlled studies are required for further evidence. Microbial colonisation was assessed in skin wounds, before and after irrigation with tap water, and was compared with irrigation using 0·9% sodium chloride sterile solution. The study included 120 subjects with chronic, traumatic, vascular, pressure or neuropathic wounds. ⋯ The proportion of reduction of positive samples was similar for both groups in all cultures. Colony-forming unit count before and after irrigation was similar in both groups and in all cultures, except for the culture in hypertonic mannitol agar from the tap water group, for which the count was lower after irrigation (Wilcoxon z = 2·05, P = 0·041). It is concluded that skin wound irrigation with tap water leads to further reduction of Gram-positive bacteria compared with 0·9% sodium chloride sterile solution, with no difference in colonisation of haemolytic bacteria, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi.