Click here for the Wounds UK Home Page September 2005

Future events Events in September, October and November Partnerships in wound management Creating partnerships in our local area A new approach to chronic wound management New developments	Welcome to the 5th Wounds UK Newsletter The role of research in wound healing and its related topics is one for which we all must have some responsibility. It has become difficult for many to continue to carry out quality research whilst trying to manage a clinical workload at the same time. I salute those of you who manage to do this and continue to do it well. The problem with the constant pressure exerted on those in the NHS is that this results in too many unanswered questions. For many clinicians, nurses, doctors, podiatrists and numerous others, each day will throw up new challenges to our way of working. Yet with resources as scarce as they are, we will be unable to tackle these issues and get the results that we need. Ultimately, some very small changes in practice can often prove to be most beneficial for our patients. It is with these thoughts in mind that we should be seeking to cement relationships with other professionals in order to attempt to meet the challenges we face in practice and in order to try and carry out the work which needs to be done. My recent experience has been positive, and has given me insight into other issues which I would previosuly have not considered. On a few occasions I have met with microbiologists and bioengineers who have an interest in wound healing and who would like to apply their expertise to addressing some of the issues we see as key to the wound healing debate. Another issue is funding, if we are going to tackle some of the wound healing challenges we will require funding, not only for equipment but also for our time. Ths Chief Scientists' Office does offer grants for research and is particularly keen to provide funding for worthwhile collaborative work which is mult-professional and multi-centred. Other sources of funding may come from industry, and many companies have foundations which work independently to support research. The overall message is that we all need to seek out opportunities to carry out worthwhile projects, whether large or small scale, and when possible involve other individuals (or disciplines) who share your enthusiasm for the subject. John Timmons Editor Email: John.Timmons@gcal.ac.uk	References Latest journal references

Future events 21-24 September, 2005 11th European Burns Congress (EBA): www.eba2005-portugal.com Estoril, Portugal 12th -16th October The 14th Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology ExCeL Exhibition Centre, London 13-15 October, 2005 International Federation of Infection Control Conference (IFIC): www.flebologiabrasil.com.br Istanbul, Turkey 14-16 November, 2005 Wounds UK: www.wounds-uk.com/harrogate.shtml Istanbul, Turkey Activa healthcare will be running free clinical seminars on the theme of Challengin pain and improving clinical outcomes. The seminars will be repeated throughout the UK and are presented in association with Wounds UK. The dates are as follows: 5th October Glasgow 12th October Northern Ireland 13th October Bolton 19th October Stoke on Trent 20th October Chelsea 1st November Cardiff A number of eminent UK speakers will be presenting at each event. In order to access the seminars visit the activa website at www.activahealthcare.co.uk   Keep reading for: Partnerships in wound management A new approach to chronic wound management Latest journal references Download this newsletter in PDF format Partnerships in Wound Management Much of government health policy over the past decade has stressed the need to work in partnership with other organisations and individuals in order to improve patient care. This week I had an interesting email from a Professor at a nearby University who had been on the Wounds UK website. She and her PhD student had been working on a wound modelling device which allowed them to analyse wound moisture levels and the absorbency of some common wound dressings. From this work they hope to establish what the optimum moisture levels at the wound bed should be. This work is in many ways ground breaking and may answer a question which has been asked in wound care circles for many years. The team work in the bioengineering department and are currently involved in research which has the potential to have a very positive impact on wound healing for patients. Our communication since has been around ways of taking things forward to working with patients. I have now organised a number of local tissue viability nurses to meet with the 'scientists' in order to look at ways in which the technology can be utilised benefit patients. Incredibly, this work is being done no more than five minutes from my University. I feel that in order to help us to think 'outside the box'and examine problems from an alternative viewpoint we need to establish partnerships with like minded groups within our local areas.   Keep reading for: A new approach to chronic wound management Latest journal references Download this newsletter in PDF format A new approach to chronic wound management The theory of wound be preparation has given us an ideal basis for advancing knowledge of each of the components involved in wound healing. Key issues which may impeed healing include the presence of necrotic tissue, bacterial burden and wound moisture levels. Having identified these factors, wound care experts and scientists have been able to focus more clearly on each individually and attempt to question each in more depth. As mentioned in last months newsletter, wound exudate has long provided the patient and the clinician with a problem which can impact not only on healing but also on the quality of life of the patient. Studies which examine wound exudate have revealed the presence of a number of proteins and proteolytic enzymes which may have a negative impact on the wound helaing process. It has been shown that protease activity can be influenced by the pH of the wound, that is the balance of hydrogen ions in the wound. It has been suggested that many chronic wounds may have an alkaline pH which encourages protease activity, which could lead to break down of the extracellular matrix and degradation of new tissue. Smith and Nephew have recently released a new product called Cadesorb, which is designed to alter the pH of a wound from alkaline to a more acidic level, thereby creating an environment which is more favourable for new cell growth and less favourable for harmful proteases. This does sound like an exciting development and we await the definitive clinical work which will support the use of the product in practice. Keep reading for:Latest journal references Download this newsletter in PDF format References of Interest Beatriz Farias Alves Yamada, RN, BSN, WOCN, MSN, PhD(s); Vera Lúcia Conceição de Gouveia Santos, RN, BSN, WOCN, MSN, PhD Quality of Life of Individuals with Chronic Venous Ulcers Wounds. 2005;17(7):178-189. Brett DW (2005) Chlorophyllin--A Healer? A Hypothesis for its Activity, Wounds 17(7):190-195. Dubravko Huljev, MD; Nastja Kucisec-Tepes, MD, DSc (2005) Necrotizing Fasciitis of the Abdominal Wall as a Post-Surgical Complication: A Case Report Wounds. 17(7):169-177. Kyle, U. G.; Schneider, S. M.; Pirlich, M.; Lochs, H.; Hebuterne, X.; Pichard, C. (2005) Does nutritional risk, as assessed by Nutritional Risk Index, increase during hospital stay? A multinational population-based study CLINICAL NUTRITION -QUARTERLY THEN BIMONTHLY- VOL 24; NUMBER 4; pp. 516-524 Schultz, G.; Mozingo, D.; Romanelli, M.; Claxton, K. (2005) Wound healing and TIME; new concepts and scientific applications WOUND REPAIR AND REGENERATION VOL 13; SUPP/4;pp. S1-S11 Tingle, J.; Dunmore, L (2005) Comment Cranking up a failing NHS complaints system BRITISH JOURNAL OF NURSING -LONDON- MARK ALLEN PUBLISHING LIMITED- VOL 14; NUMB 14; p744   Download this newsletter in PDF format