The Specialist Forum Volume 13 No 11 November 2013 | Page 9
SAMED
dermal pads designed to distribute pressure more evenly, to more
advanced technologies including pressure-relieving surfaces.
These technologies have the potential to reduce the incidence of
pressure ulcers and many have been shown to be highly cost-effective interventions that can reduce the total cost of care, often without
large up-front investments.
Modern wound dressings
The majority of modern wound dressings and treatments (such as
negative pressure wound therapy) seek to provide an optimal woundhealing environment to promote primary closure of a wound.
In practice, the availability of many modern dressings and treatments remains limited, often due to concerns about their cost. As a
result, many patients continue to be treated with traditional dressings
such as gauze secured by tape. However, adopting dressings and
treatments on the basis of cost can often be a false economy. Modern
dressings have been designed to have improved exudate handling
abilities, meaning that the frequency of dressing changes and the
associated nursing time can be dramatically reduced. Several studies
have shown that the frequency of dressing changes can be reduced
from daily to every two to three days, thereby reducing the number of
dressings and nurse visits required.
Furthermore, modern dressing are intended to provide an optimal
wound-healing environment which, when compared with gauze
dressings, has been shown to lead to the closure of more wounds in
a shorter time. While it may be tempting to choose dressings on the
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