Outcomes of hyaluronan therapy in diabetic foot wounds

The purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes of persons with neuropathic diabetic foot wounds treated with a hyaluronan-containing dressing. Data were abstracted for 36 patients with diabetes, 72.2% male, aged 60.0+/-10.7 years and a mean glycated hemoglobin (HbA(1c)) of 9.5+/-2.5% presenting for care at two large, multidisciplinary wound care centers. All patients received surgical debridement for their diabetic foot wounds and were placed on therapy consisting of hyaluronan dressing (Hyalofill, Convatec, USA) with dressing changes taking place every other day. Outcomes evaluated included time to complete wound closure and proportion of patients achieving wound closure in 20 weeks. Hyalofill therapy was used until the wound bed achieved 100% granulation tissue. Therapy was then followed by a moisture-retentive dressing until complete epithelialization. In total, 75.0% of wounds measuring a mean 2.2+/-2.2 cm(2) healed in the 20-week evaluation period. Of those that healed in this period, healing took place in a mean 10.0+/-4.8 weeks. The average duration of Hyalofill therapy in all patients was 8.6+/-4.2 weeks. Deeper (UT Grade 2A) wounds were over 15 times less likely to heal than superficial (1A) wounds (94.7 vs. 52.9%, Odds Ratio=15.9, 95% Confidence Interval=1.7-142.8, P=0.006). We conclude that a regimen consisting of moist wound healing using hyaluronan-containing dressings may be a useful adjunct to appropriate diabetic foot ulcer care. We await the completion of a multicenter randomized controlled trial in this area to either support or refute this initial assessment.