Product Review: Is a New Self-Adaptive Wound Dressing the Ultimate in Product Standardization?

By Sue Hull MSN, RN, CWOCN

After I wrote the short series on wound care and wound product standardization, I received an email that said this:

"In your blog of June 3rd you've wrote that using dressing assortment supply from only one vendor brought significant economic benefits.

Can you imagine what benefits would be if a clinician or nurse would be able to use only one dressing type for all wounds?"

My first thought was, "Riiiiiiight." After all, we are taught and we experience the need for different types of dressings for different types of wounds. How could this gentleman who contacted me think he might convince me he is selling me a dressing for all wounds? Did he think I was an idiot?

So I emailed him back and found out that maybe I am an idiot!

First of all, he wasn't a salesman. He was the inventor of the dressing. Secondly, he had good answers to my questions.

So, what is this wonder dressing? It is called Enluxtra™, and it is made of a proprietary material called Humifiber™. Let me say right now, I have not had the opportunity to use this dressing. I have samples I have played with, but I haven’t actually used any on a patient.

One of the important questions I asked about Enluxtra was, why would I want to use an eight dollar dressing on a wound when I could use four dollar foam dressing instead. Here are the answers to that in a nutshell:

• You would not need many of the supplemental products often used with foam dressings, such as non-adherent contact layers, strike-through barriers, skin protection ointment or prep (because Enluxtra sequesters the fluid), or an antimicrobial topical.
• Enluxtra has a 25-50% higher absorption capacity than any other dressing on the market — especially under compression — so the dressing needs to be changed less often. In home health, that means less frequent nurse visits.
• Foam dressings on heavily draining wounds often allow the exudate to be in contact with the peri-wound skin, leading to further deterioration. Sometimes this happens with patient movement or pressure on the dressing, causing exudate to be squeezed out. Enluxtra locks the exudate in the dressing.
• Not all parts of the wound act in the same way. There can be heavy drainage with non-draining areas in the same wound. Using foam can cause the non-draining areas to become desiccated (dried out). This would be the areas where a dressing sticks when you remove it. This desiccation can impede wound healing, increasing the overall cost of care. Enluxtra is suitable for treating every tissue type within the wound, absorbing drainage in the wet areas, and donating moisture to the dry areas. This is why Enluxtra is called a self-adapting dressing.

I received samples of this product, and I am waiting for a wound care patient that is appropriate (by definition of the product, wouldn’t that be ALL wound care patients?) I am sure you must have more questions about this new and unique wound dressing.

For more information on Enluxtra, click here for contact details.

About The Author
Sue Hull MSN, RN, CWOCN has been a home health nurse since 1992 and a CWOCN since 2003. She currently works for Peace Health Home Medical Group in Alaska. Sue is an educator and author. In addition to nursing in home health and hospital settings, she is also the editor of two wound care education websites.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of WoundSource, Kestrel Health Information, Inc., its affiliates, or subsidiary companies.