Prospera® Announces New NPWT Scientific Research Signals of Pain Common During Dressing Changes
Prospera Technologies, LLC announced today that at the John A. Boswick, MD, Burn and Wound Care Symposium in Maui, Hawaii, February 22-26, 2010, Malin Malmsjo, MD, PhD, of Lund, Sweden, presented the results of an innovative immunohistochemistry study, the first of its kind to examine tissue trauma and pain markers associated with the removal of NPWT wound fillers. The study represents the latest in a long series of NPWT studies recently conducted using Prospera® NPWT systems.
In introducing the rationale behind the study, Dr. Malmsjo noted, “During NPWT, granulation tissue typically grows into foam when foam is used as the wound filler. Upon removal, the wound bed may get disrupted and patients often experience pain. We sought to observe and quantify the differences between foam and gauze fillers with regard to markers of pain when each type of dressing is removed.” In the study, Dr. Malmsjo and her team measured calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and substance P, neuropeptides known to be released upon tissue trauma and inflammation that may signal pain. A porcine peripheral wound model was treated with NPWT for 72 hours using a foam or gauze filler. The fillers were then removed, and the expression of CGRP and substance P were measured using immunofluorescence techniques. Use of the techniques enable quantification and localization of these neuropeptides to fluoresce.
The study results revealed that the expression of CGRP and substance P increased after NPWT and wound filler removal. Both were significantly more abundant after removal of foam, than after removal of gauze. Staining for both neuropeptides was observed primarily in association with nerves and leukocytes.
Cindy Ahearn, RN, MS, ET, CWCN, FNP-BC, Director of Clinical Services for Prospera, in a review presentation summarizing state-of-the-art advances in NPWT, shared her opinions about the significance of the findings related to CGRP and substance P. She reminded the audience, “At this same conference, we’ve seen data provided by the Swedish research team that quantify tissue ingrowth into foam and how it translates into the need for much more force to remove foam dressings than moist gauze dressings after NPWT. The CGRP and substance P findings bring home the clinical relevance of what we’ve known mainly empirically, until now. Moist gauze under negative pressure, because it is not subject to ingrowth and tissue disruption, results in less pain. Because of these experiments, we can now actually see the differences with our own eyes.”
About Prospera®
Prospera® is a company rooted in its commitment to the development of scientific research to advance the understanding of the use of NPWT in wound healing in order to engineer further enlightened and innovative products that will bring NPWT into the future. Prospera® (Fort Worth, TX) PRO series of NPWT pumps are engineered specifically for NPWT providing patient comfort, simplicity of use, optimal and cost effective outcomes.