ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate wound healing after application of adjunctive topical haemoglobin spray in patients with chronic wounds. METHOD: Consecutive patients with a diversity of chronic wounds (defined as <40% reduction in wound size within 4 weeks) were treated with standard wound care plus haemoglobin spray and evaluated over a 26-week period. Results were compared with a retrospective cohort of 50 consecutive patients treated with standard wound care alone. RESULTS: We evaluated 50 patients for a 26-week evaluation period, during which 45/50 patients (90%) treated with haemoglobin spray were completely healed compared with 19/50 retrospective control patients (38%) (p<0.001). Mean time to complete wound healing was 6.6 weeks (range: 3-22) in the haemoglobin spray group compared with 11.4 weeks (range: 3-25) in the control group (p=0.01). Cox proportional hazards analysis model adjusting for baseline wound size and months wound present also yielded significant treatment effects. Exudate, slough and pain levels were all reduced to a greater extent versus control group. CONCLUSION: Haemoglobin spray resulted in a higher number of healed wounds and a faster rate of healing, as well as a positive impact on other wound parameters. These results are in accordance with other published data and supports the adjunctive use of haemoglobin spray in patients with a wide variety of chronic wounds of all sizes and origins.
Subject(s)
Hemoglobins/administration & dosage , Wounds and Injuries/drug therapy , Adolescent , Adult , Aerosols , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Bandages , Child , Chronic Disease , Exudates and Transudates , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pain/etiology , Proportional Hazards Models , Retrospective Studies , Time Factors , Wound Healing , Wounds and Injuries/complications , Young AdultABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of topical haemoglobin spray on treatment response and wound-closure rates in patients with chronic venous leg ulcers. METHOD: A linear regression model was used to forecast healing outcomes over a 12-month period. Simulated data were taken from normal distributions based on post-hoc analysis of a 72-patient study in non-healing and worsening wounds (36 patients receiving standard care and 36 receiving standard care plus topical haemoglobin spray). Using a simulated 25,000 'patients' from each group, the proportion of wound closure over time was projected. RESULTS: Simulation results predicted a 55% wound closure rate at six months in the haemoglobin group, compared with 4% in the standard care group. Over a 12-month simulation period, a 43% overall reduction in wound burden was predicted. With the haemoglobin spray, 85% of wounds were expected to heal in 12 months, compared with 13% in the standard care group. CONCLUSION: Topical haemoglobin spray promises a more effective treatment for chronic venous leg ulcers than standard care alone in wounds that are non-healing or worsening. Further research is required to validate these predictions and to identify achievable outcomes in other chronic wound types.
