The design and preparation of wound dressings that redress the protease imbalance in chronic wounds is an important goal of wound healing and medical materials science. Chronic wounds contain high levels of tissue and cytokine-destroying proteases including matrix metalloprotease and neutrophil elastase. Thus, the lowering of excessive protease levels in the wound environment by wound dressing ...

Background: Considerable thought has been given to the development of dressings and adhesives for use on chronic wounds. Dressings and adhesives used on acute (surgical/traumatic) wounds, however, have not had the same level of scrutiny regarding the skin damage that may be incurred on removal, particularly as the dressings are often removed after short application periods. Aims: To compare the...

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this systematic literature review was to describe the current evidence in the field of pressure ulcer treatment with hydrocolloids and to give recommendations for clinical practice and further research. BACKGROUND Pressure ulcers are a common problem in clinical practice and generate substantial expense. A wide range of dressings is available but little is known...

BACKGROUND The aim was to study which dressing material was best for healing donor-site wounds (DSWs) after split-skin grafting as there is wide variation in existing methods, ranging from classical gauze dressings to modern silicone dressings. METHODS This 14-centre, six-armed randomized clinical trial (stratified by centre) compared six wound dressing materials in adult patients with DSWs l...

AIM The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of silver-releasing dressings in the management of non-healing chronic wounds. BACKGROUND Non-healing chronic wounds often have a negative physical impact on patients and place a financial burden on healthcare systems. Silver dressings are wound products designed to control infection and provide a wound environment conducive to healing...

BACKGROUND Venous leg ulcers constitute a chronic recurring complaint that affects 1.0-1.3% of the adult population at some time in life, and which corresponds to approximately 75% of all chronic ulcers of the leg. Multilayer compression bandaging is, at present, the only treatment that has been proved to be effective in treating this type of ulcer. There is no consensus, however, about the dre...

BACKGROUND Optimal antibacterial efficacy of intracanal medicaments containing silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs) has been well documented. However, concerns remain regarding the effect of Ag-NPs on tooth color. This study aimed to assess the effects of calcium hydroxide (CH) mixed with Ag-NPs as intracanal medicaments on tooth color. The effect of location of application of medicament on the degree...

BACKGROUND Candida has been associated with cases of secondary and persistent root canal infections. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of commonly used intracanal medicament against Candida biofilms found in root canals of human primary teeth with necrotic pulp. MATERIALS AND METHODS Pulp canals of 45 single-rooted primary maxillary anterior teeth with pu...

Aravindan Rangaraj is Clinical Research Fellow; Keith Harding is Head of Section of Wound Healing; David Leaper is Visiting Professor; all at Department of Dermatology and Wound Healing, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff Collagen is structurally and functionally a key protein of the extracellular matrix which is also involved in scar formation during the healing of connective tiss...