Here - EWMA 2013

EP 443
DETERMINATION OF THE FLUID HOLDING CAPACITY (FHC) OF A NEW
DEBRIDER* COMPARED TO CONVENTIONAL COTTON GAUZE
Cornelia Wiegand 1 , Kirsten Reddersen 1 , Martin Abel 2 , Jeanette Muldoon 3 , Peter Ruth 2 ,
Uta-Christina Hipler 1
1 Department of Dermatology, University Medical Center Jena (Jena, Germany);
2 Lohmann & Rauscher GmbH & Co.KG (Rengsdorf, Germany);
3 Activa Healthcare (Burton upon Trent, United Kingdom).
Aim: Chronic wounds contain necrotic, sloughy tissue impeding healing as it acts as
proinflammatory stimulus or serves as media for microorganisms. For mechanical
debridement mainly wet-to-dry gauze is used, which often causes pain and damage to
healthy tissue. A new debrider* consisting of polyester monofilamentfibres presents a
novel, fast and almost painless option for debridement. A high fluid holding capacity
(FHC) would be beneficial for taking up excess amounts of wound exudates.
Methods: We investigated the FHC of the new debrider* in vitro and compared it to
cotton gauze**. Therefore, samples were soaked in (a) water, (b) 5%BSA, and (c)
10%BSA solution. Sample weight was immediately determined and samples were then
dried at 80°C for 4h.
Results: FHC of dry debrider* pads slightly decreased with increasing BSA
concentration. FHC of pre-wetted debrider* improved significantly with higher BSA
content. For dry gauze**, a significant decrease of FHC with increasing protein
concentration was observed with significantly inferior performance of the pre-wetted
gauze**. With increasing BSA concentration the FHC of pre-wetted debrider* was found
to be superior compared to pre-wetted gauze**.
Conclusions: The wound debrider* presents a fast, almost painless option for
debridement. Due to its physicochemical nature it is advantageous compared to gauze**
with regard to fluid holding capacity (FHC). It was shown that best results for FHCs at
high protein concentrations were obtained with pre-wetted debrider*. Hence, this new
technique should provide a valuable tool in treatment of patients with chronic wounds.
*Debrisoft ® ; Lohmann&Rauscher; **cotton gauze, Fuhrmann
E-Poster: Basic Science
EP 442
MODELLING WOUND BIOFILMS IN A THERMO-REVERSIBLE MATRIX WITH
FLORESCENT MARKERS
Benjamin Taylor 1 , David Williams 2 , Jon Nosworthy 3
1 Cardiff University/Advanced Medical Solutions (Cardiff/Winsford, United Kingdom);
2 Cardiff University (Cardiff, United Kingdom);
3 Advanced Medical Solutions (Winsford, United Kingdom).
Introduction: There is interest in developing in vitro models for biofilm analysis that
could allow novel compounds to be assessed for their anti-biofilm activity. Poloxamer is
a thermo-reversible gel which liquefies at (approx)