There are a wide variety of wound care dressings available in the market place. All of these dressings vary in relation to evidence and performance characteristics. We underwent a case study to assess the efficacy of the ActivHeal® Hydrocolloid dressing. A specific patient evaluation has been remarked upon to substantiate the product performance and will be described as Patient X.

Hydrocolloid dressings were developed from stoma products and most consist of a base made from pectin or gelatin, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and elastomers. The base is attached to a polyurethane film or backing. ActivHeal® Hydrocolloid contains a blend of synthetic polymers and hydrophilic powders which provides a self adhesive absorbent material for wound application, not derived from animal property. The dressing when in situ is designed to encourage autolysis and absorbs fluid to form a cohesive gel.

ActivHeal® Hydrocolloid was evaluated on seven patients over a four to eight week period. At each dressing change a wound assessment was completed detailing: tissue type at the wound bed, surrounding skin, exudate levels, wound dimensions and wound pain. The assessing clinician commented on dressing adherence, ease of application, conformability, absorbency, patient comfort, dressing residue left in the wound and slippage. The assessment was completed once a week for the four to eight week period. Photographs of the wound state were taken at each dressing change to substantiate dressing performance.

The results gained from the dressing performance were collated and analysed. Three of the wounds healed in four weeks from commencing therapy and two wounds showed a reduction in wound dimension following dressing intervention. The assessing clinician highlighted that all of the applications were easy to apply, conformed to the affected area, absorbed exudate, provided good standards of patient comfort, did not adhere to the wound bed following removal and stayed in situ for the indicated period, graph one demonstrates this.

Graph 2