Pain and analgesics in patients with hard-to-heal ulcers: using telemedicine or standard consultations.

OBJECTIVE: To compare consultations carried out via video with those performed in person for patients with painful, hard-to-heal ulcers, with a focus on ulcer pain and pain treatment. A further aim was to investigate predictors for pain and pain treatment. METHOD: This was a register-based, quasi-experimental study based on data from the Swedish Registry of Ulcer Treatment (RUT). A total of 100 patients with hard-to-heal ulcers diagnosed via video consultation were compared with 1888 patients diagnosed in person with regard to pain assessment, intensity and treatment. Ulcer pain intensity was assessed by the visual analogue scale (VAS). Normally distributed variables (age, VAS) were compared between consultation groups using Student's t-test. Non-normally distributed variables (ulcer size, ulcer duration) were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test, except for healing time, which was analysed with a log-rank test. Categorical variables (gender, ulcer aetiology and prescribed analgesics) were compared using Pearson's chi-square test (χ2). A p value of less than 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Predictors for pain and pain treatment were analysed in multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: The results showed a high presence of pain; 71% of patients with pain reported severe ulcer pain. There was no significant difference in ability to assess pain by VAS in the group diagnosed via video consultation (90%) compared with the group diagnosed in person (86%) (χ2, p=0.233). A significantly higher amount of prescribed analgesics was found for patients diagnosed via video (84%) compared with patients diagnosed by in-person assessment (68%) (χ2, p=0.044). Predictors for high-intensity pain were female gender or ulcers due to inflammatory vessel disease, while the predictors for receiving analgesics were older age, longer healing time and being diagnosed via video consultation. CONCLUSION: To identify, assess and treat ulcer pain is equally possible via video as by in-person consultation. The results of this study confirm that patients with hard-to-heal ulcers suffer from high-intensity ulcer pain, with a discrepancy between pain and pain relief. Further well-designed randomised controlled studies are necessary to understand how best to deploy telemedicine in ulcer pain treatment.

Pain and analgaesics in patients with hard-to-heal ulcers: using telemedicine or standard consultations.

OBJECTIVE: To compare consultations carried out via video with those performed in person for patients with painful, hard-to-heal ulcers, with a focus on ulcer pain and pain treatment. A further aim was to investigate predictors for pain and pain treatment. METHOD: This was a register-based, quasi-experimental study based on data from the Swedish Registry of Ulcer Treatment (RUT). A total of 100 patients with hard-to-heal ulcers diagnosed via video consultation were compared with 1888 patients diagnosed in person with regard to pain assessment, intensity and treatment. Ulcer pain intensity was assessed by the visual analogue scale (VAS). Normally distributed variables (age, VAS) were compared between consultation groups using Student's t-test. Non-normally distributed variables (ulcer size, ulcer duration) were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test, except for healing time, which was analysed with a log-rank test. Categorical variables (gender, ulcer aetiology and prescribed analgesics) were compared using Pearson's chi-square test (χ2). A p value of less than 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Predictors for pain and pain treatment were analysed in multiple regression analyses. RESULTS: The results showed a high presence of pain; 71% of patients with pain reported severe ulcer pain. There was no significant difference in ability to assess pain by VAS in the group diagnosed via video consultation (90%) compared with the group diagnosed in person (86%) (χ2, p=0.233). A significantly higher amount of prescribed analgesics was found for patients diagnosed via video (84%) compared with patients diagnosed by in-person assessment (68%) (χ2, p=0.044). Predictors for high-intensity pain were female gender or ulcers due to inflammatory vessel disease, while the predictors for receiving analgesics were older age, longer healing time and being diagnosed via video consultation. CONCLUSION: To identify, assess and treat ulcer pain is equally possible via video as by in-person consultation. The results of this study confirm that patients with hard-to-heal ulcers suffer from high-intensity ulcer pain, with a discrepancy between pain and pain relief. Further well-designed randomised controlled studies are necessary to understand how best to deploy telemedicine in ulcer pain treatment.

A pilot study investigating lactic acid bacterial symbionts from the honeybee in inhibiting human chronic wound pathogens.

Treatment and management of chronic wounds is a large burden on the health sector and causes substantial suffering for the patients. We believe that 13 lactic acid bacteria (LAB) symbionts isolated from the honey crop of the honeybee are important players in the antimicrobial action of honey, by producing antimicrobial substances and can be used in combination with heather honey as an effective treatment in wound management. A total of 22 patients with chronic ulcers were included; culture-dependent and molecular-based (MALDI-MS and 16S rRNA gene sequencing) techniques were used to identify bacteria from chronic wounds. These clinical isolates were used for in vitro antimicrobial testing with standardised viable LAB and sterilised heather honey mixture. Twenty of the patients' wounds were polymicrobial and 42 different species were isolated. Patient isolates that were tested in vitro were inhibited by the LAB and honey combination with inhibitory zones comparable with different antibiotics. LAB and heather honey in combination presents a new topical option in chronic wound management because of the healing properties of honey, antimicrobial metabolite production from the LAB and their bactericidal effect on common chronic wound pathogens. This new treatment may be a stepping stone towards an alternative solution to antibiotics.

Cost consequences due to reduced ulcer healing times - analyses based on the Swedish Registry of Ulcer Treatment.

Resource use and costs for topical treatment of hard-to-heal ulcers based on data from the Swedish Registry of Ulcer Treatment (RUT) were analysed in patients recorded in RUT as having healed between 2009 and 2012, in order to estimate potential cost savings from reductions in frequency of dressing changes and healing times. RUT is used to capture areas of improvement in ulcer care and to enable structured wound management by registering patients with hard-to-heal leg, foot and pressure ulcers. Patients included in the registry are treated in primary care, community care, private care, and inpatient hospital care. Cost calculations were based on resource use data on healing time and frequency of dressing changes in Swedish patients with hard-to-heal ulcers who healed between 2009 and 2012. Per-patient treatment costs decreased from SEK38 223 in 2009 to SEK20 496 in 2012, mainly because of shorter healing times. Frequency of dressing changes was essentially the same during these years, varying from 1·4 to 1·6 per week. The total healing time was reduced by 38%. Treatment costs for the management of hard-to-heal ulcers can be reduced with well-developed treatment strategies resulting in shortened healing times as shown in RUT.

Ulcer healing time and antibiotic treatment before and after the introduction of the Registry of Ulcer Treatment: an improvement project in a national quality registry in Sweden.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate changes in ulcer healing time and antibiotic treatment in Sweden following the introduction of the Registry of Ulcer Treatment (RUT), a national quality registry, in 2009. DESIGN: A statistical analysis of RUT data concerning the healing time and antibiotic treatment for patients with hard-to-heal ulcers in Sweden between 2009 and 2012. SETTING: RUT is a national web-based quality registry used to capture areas of improvement in ulcer care and to structure wound management by registering patients with hard-to-heal leg, foot and pressure ulcers. Registration includes variables such as gender, age, diagnosis, healing time, antibiotic treatment, and ulcer duration and size. POPULATION: Every patient with a hard-to-heal ulcer registered with RUT between 2009 and 2012 (n=1417) was included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Statistical analyses were performed using Stata V.12.1. Healing time was assessed with the Kaplan-Meier analysis and adjustment was made for ulcer size. A log-rank test was used for equality of survivor functions. RESULTS: According to the adjusted registry in December 2012, patients' median age was 80 years (mean 77.5 years, range 11-103 years). The median healing time for all ulcers, adjusted for ulcer size, was 146 days (21 weeks) in 2009 and 63 days (9 weeks) in 2012 (p=0.001). Considering all years between 2009 and 2012, antibiotic treatment for patients with hard-to-heal ulcers was reduced from 71% before registration to 29% after registration of ulcer healing (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Healing time and antibiotic treatment decreased significantly during 3 years after launch of RUT.

Bacterial cultures, rapid strep test, and antibiotic treatment in infected hard-to-heal ulcers in primary care.

OBJECTIVE: In-depth studies on antibiotic treatment for patients with hard-to-heal ulcers in primary care are lacking. The present study was undertaken to update the bacteriological spectrum for this patient group and to investigate antibiotic treatment. A further aim was to investigate the potential of a rapid strep test to find group A streptococci (GAS) causing ulcer infection. DESIGN: A prospective study from August 2009 to August 2010. SETTING: Blekinge Wound Healing Center. SUBJECTS: Patients with clinical signs of infected hard-to-heal ulcers of any etiology. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A bacterial culture and a rapid strep test were taken from every ulcer to capture the bacteriological spectrum. Antibiotic treatment before and during the study period was measured. RESULTS: Forty-one patients with 49 infected ulcers were recruited. Staphylococcus aureus, found in 68.8% of all cultures, was the most observed species. Group G streptococci (GGS) were found in 12.5%. GAS was found in one case where the rapid strep test was positive. Staphylococcus aureus was found in three patients out of four with clinical signs of erysipelas. Some 59% of the patients were treated with antibiotics before the study period compared with 44% during the study period. CONCLUSION: Antibiotic treatment was largely reduced because of structured wound management. The current bacteriological spectrum showed high rates of GGS and erysipelas caused by Staphylococcus aureus. The rapid strep test was found useful in identifying GAS but we would not recommend its use in the clinical setting due to the low rate of GAS in this patient group.

Pinch grafting of chronic leg ulcers in primary care: fourteen years' experience.

Pinch grafting for treatment of chronic leg ulcers has been evaluated mainly in hospitalized and immobilized patients. This study describes the results of 199 pinch graft operations of 126 chronic leg and foot ulcers in 85 patients in primary care between 1987 and 2001. The aetiology of the ulcers was venous insufficiency in 43% and multi-factorial in 25% (77% with venous insufficiency as the main determinant). The mean ulcer size was 13.5 cm2 and the mean ulcer duration was 15.9 months. The overall healing rate within 3 months was 33%, ranging from 19% for multi-factorial or combined venous and arterial ulcers to 48% for venous ulcers. Within 12 months the overall healing rate was 60%, with 67% healed venous ulcers. The results from our study suggest that pinch grafting is suitable for treating chronic leg ulcers, especially venous ulcers, in primary care.