Wound Care

Types of wounds

Wound care products are developed to support the process of healing wounds. Chronic wounds are wounds that fail to progress through the normal stages of healing and may not heal at all. There are risk factors that can contribute to this, for example diabetes and venous ulcers. For these patients, receiving proper and timely care for their wounds is critical. Another contributing factor to non-healing wounds can be infection by bacteria. Although most wounds are colonised by commensal bacteria, a higher bacterial load can lead to inflammation and trigger an immune response.

Testing of wound care products

Antimicrobial wound care products need to show efficacy against a range of bacteria and fungi. Antimicrobials can be administered as a dressing, gel or wash and a range of actives are seen on the market. There are some standard methods for testing efficacy as well as bespoke methods using ex vivo porcine skin which can closely mimic a wound without the need for a clinical study. There are also a range of proteins and other factors which may be elevated in non-healing wounds, for example matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). These can be studied using commercially available ELISA kits to show sequestration that can aid wound healing.