Defining wound bed conformability: a new testing methodology to assess the relative swelling rise of foam dressings.

OBJECTIVE: Using a dressing that expands and conforms to the wound bed upon exudate absorption is one of the best ways to promote wound healing. While many products claim wound bed conformability, no externally replicated or verified test methodology had been developed to quantify a wound dressing's ability to conform to the wound bed. The Relative Swelling Rise (RSR) test methodology was developed to measure the relative swelling rise of foam dressings upon fluid absorption, and offers a quantifiable and easily replicated method to measure wound bed conformability. METHOD: The RSR test method was developed, validated and reliability tested by Coloplast A/S, Denmark. External replication was provided by ALS Odense, Denmark (previously DB Lab). Circular fences provide a fixed diameter to apply and contain the fluid and prevent horizontal spreading in the test set-up. The swelling height is quantified relative to the fence's inner diameter, i.e., the ratio alpha (α), and allows evaluation of a material's ability to conform to the wound bed. RESULTS: Biatain Silicone foam products (n=3, Coloplast A/S, Denmark) were tested, all afforded an average α-ratio from 0.30 to 0.60. The relative standard deviations were between 1-3%, demonstrating the strength of the test. Robustness of the methodology was demonstrated through the internal validation study, the reliability study, and both an internal and external replication study, as well as a systematic literature review and expert review of the construct, content, criterion and generalisability of the method. CONCLUSION: Having a validated, effective and easily replicable testing method to quantify wound bed conformability of foam dressings is an important step towards achieving better healing outcomes.

The Observatoire en Ville des Plaies ExSudatives (VIPES) study: insight into the patient characteristics, epidemiology, previous management, and features of wounds treated in the French community setting.

BACKGROUND: Wounds that become complex and hard-to-heal are a challenge for all health care systems. Identifying and understanding the nature of these wounds is necessary to allow appropriate intervention. OBJECTIVE: To present the epidemiological outcomes of the VIPES study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The prospective, observational VIPES study aimed to describe the use and investigate the performance of 2 wound dressings-a silicone foam and a gelling fiber-in the management of chronic and acute wounds in a community setting in France. RESULTS: Of 407 patients recorded, 285 were included in the analysis. The 184 chronic wounds included ulcers (venous/arterial/mixed, diabetic foot, and pressure) and malignant wounds. The 101 acute wounds included surgical and traumatic wounds. Of all wounds, 98.2% were exuding and 77.9% showed exudate pooling. Unhealthy wound edges and periwound skin were reported in 57.2% and 35.4% of wounds, respectively. Of all wounds, 78.6% were in treatment failure (poor exudate management or stagnant wound). The silicone foam dressing (n = 86) and the gelling fiber (n = 199) were generally used in wounds with low or moderate exudation, or moderate or high exudation, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The VIPES study highlights that wounds can be complex and that community care practices in France warrant improvement. Practical and up-to-date wound management recommendations are needed.

Selectivity and proofreading both contribute significantly to the fidelity of RNA polymerase III transcription.

We examine here the mechanisms ensuring the fidelity of RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase III (Pol III). Misincorporation could only be observed by using variants of Pol III deficient in the intrinsic RNA cleavage activity. Determination of relative rates of the reactions producing correct and erroneous transcripts at a specific position on a tRNA gene, combined with computational methods, demonstrated that Pol III has a highly efficient proofreading activity increasing its transcriptional fidelity by a factor of 10(3) over the error rate determined solely by selectivity (1.8 x 10(-4)). We show that Pol III slows down synthesis past a misincorporation to achieve efficient proofreading. We discuss our findings in the context of transcriptional fidelity studies performed on RNA Pols, proposing that the fidelity of transcription is more crucial for Pol III than Pol II.