Objective: Complex hard-to-heal wounds are difficult to manage, generating significant expense to the US healthcare system, costing nearly $25 billion annually. Recently, a resorbable synthetic nanofibre matrix was trialled on a variety of complex hard-to-heal wounds at Astria Sunnyside Hospital to assess clinical efficacy.
Method: In this case series, five patients with multiple comorbidities presented in both the inpatient and outpatient setting with various hard-to-heal refractory wounds, including a venous leg ulcer (n=1), a diabetic foot ulcer (n=1), a Charcot foot deformity (n=1) and pressure ulcers (n=2). In an effort to treat these hard-to-heal wounds using a different treatment modality, each patient was transitioned to a care regimen utilising the synthetic nanofibre matrix.
Results: Each patient, regardless of wound type, exhibited the formation of granulation tissue and a reduction in wound size. The application of this synthetic nanofibre matrix also resulted in tissue coverage over exposed structure in three cases, reduction of wound exudate in two cases, and eliminated a recurring infection with and without antibiotics in four cases.
Conclusion: In this study, the treatment of hard-to-heal refractory wounds with the synthetic nanofibre matrix resulted in the desired biological responses and new tissue formation. Inclusion of the nanofibre matrix in inpatient and outpatient wound care settings may provide a much-needed solution for costly, difficult-to-treat, hard-to-heal wounds, and may offer a reduction in the total cost of care.
Keywords: granulation; hard-to-heal wounds; nanofibre matrix; synthetic; wound; wound care; wound dressing; wound healing.