A real-world study of a calcium alginate dressing for various wound etiologies on clinical performance, usability, and safety.

INTRODUCTION: Complex wounds require a moist wound healing environment and exudate control. Alginate dressings are highly absorbable and available as sheets for superficial wounds and ropes for deeper wounds. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluates the real-world performance of a conformable CAD containing mannuronic acid for various wound types. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The usability and safety of the tested CAD were evaluated in adult patients with various wound types. Further endpoints were clinician satisfaction with dressing application and suitability for wound type and their opinion of the tested CAD compared with other dressings of this type. RESULTS: The study included 83 patients with exuding wounds (42 male [51%]; 41 female [49%]) and a mean age of 74.54 years (SD ± 15.54 years). Thirteen clinicians (76%) (x = 1.24) rated the first CAD application as very easy, 4 (24%) as easy, and 1 (6%) as not easy. The time for dressing application was ranked as very good (x = 1.65) by 8 clinicians (47%), while 7 (41%) rated the time for application as good, and 2 (12%) gave a satisfactory rating. CONCLUSION: The CAD sheet and rope were safe to use and fit for purpose in wounds of various etiologies. In addition, the dressing was easy to handle and remove, formed a gel faster than other alginates, and outperformed other previous products.

Challenging stability limits in old and young individuals with a functional reaching task.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent to which adding a challenge to a reach test would increase the limit of stability (LOS) in young and old individuals. DESIGN: While standing on a force plate, with infrared markers on bony landmarks for motion analysis, 15 old (mean [SD], 70 [7] yrs old) and 15 young (mean [SD], 24 [2] yrs old) participants completed the modified functional reach test, in which they were asked to touch the farthest target possible in a series. They were then challenged to touch additional targets (functional reach challenge test) until they lost balance. RESULTS: The young participants reached farther than the old participants on both the modified functional reach and functional reach challenge tests (P = 0.005 and P = 0.003), but no group differences were found in absolute distance gains seen with the addition of the challenge. The participants in both groups displaced the center of pressure farther and used 10% more of their anatomic stability allowance in the functional reach challenge test than in the modified functional reach test. The young participants increased the LOS from 80.5% to 90.9% of their anatomic allowance, whereas the old participants increased theirs from 72.1% to 82.8%. CONCLUSIONS: The challenge improved reaching and LOS similarly in the young and old participants, but the old participants used smaller absolute percentages of LOS. Knowing the flexibility of LOS is useful for rehabilitation practitioners in assessing balance and designing therapeutic exercises that challenge stability during performance of functional arm movements and train individuals to use their LOS safely.