Peri-wound Skin Protection: A Comparison of a New Skin Barrier vs. Traditional Therapies in Wound Management

The peri-wound skin has the potential to break down as a result of constant moisture exposure. Keeping the peri-wound skin intact has become a challenge for caregivers and patients alike. Traditionally, zinc oxide ointment or petrolatum preparations have been used as a protective barrier. These products are often messy and difficult to remove.This study compared the protective function and clinical efficiency of a protective liquid acrylate skin barrier film to currently used barrier preparations.This was a prospective open labeled case series study with each patient being used as their own control in a split wound model. We have evaluated a new protective liquid film-forming acrylate skin barrier (CavilonTM No Sting Barrier Film, 3M Canada) with the traditional, currently used zinc oxide ointment or petrolatum-based barrier preparations in 30 patients. In a bid to determine clinical versatility, we have evaluated these products across several wound etiologies: venous stasis ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers and pressure ulcers. Each wound acted as its own control, where half the peri-wound area was treated with the new skin barrier and the other with one of the traditional Peri-wound Skin Protection: A Comparison of a New Skin Barrier vs. Trad... http://www.cawc.net/images/uploads/wcc/coutts-periwound.html 1 of 12 22/01/2010 1:07 PM products, with SteristripsTM (3M Healthcare) used to bisect the wound.The results indicate all preparations to be similar in clinical efficacy. The new liquid acrylate skin barrier product (CavilonTM No Sting, 3M) had statistically superior efficiency/ performance benefits: it was more caregiver/patient friendly, allowed visualization of the wound edges and was quicker to apply in the clinical setting.