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Published on: May 2, 2025
Clinical and Economic Impact of Wound Care Using a Polyurethane Foam Multilayer Dressing
Verónica Tiscar-González1, Maria José Menor-Rodríguez, Carlos Rabadán-Sainz
1Verónica Tiscar-González, MSc, RN, is a nurse in the Nurse Teaching Unit, OSI Araba, Basque Health Service, Vitoria, Spain. Maria José Menor-Rodríguez, PhD, MSc, RN, is Diabetes Nurse Educator, EOXI Ourense, Verín and Barco de Valdeorras, Servizo Galego de Saúde, Orense. Carlos Rabadán-Sainz, MSc, RN, is Nursing Coordinator, Trinitat and Bilbao Healthcare Centers, Health Department Valencia-La Fe, Valencia. Mercedes Fraile-Bravo, PhD, MSc, RN, is Care Coordinator in Extremadura Health Service, Mérida. The Life Group includes Roberto Abad-García, RN; Mónica Arizmendi-Pérez, RN; Maria Jose Feijoo-Janeiro, RN; Ana María Fernández-Silvela, RN; and Mariana Sánchez de Luna-Rodríguez, RN. Tim Styche, BSC, is Healthcare Economics Manager, Smith + Nephew, Hull, England. Francisco José Valenzuela-Ocaña, MSc, RN, is Business Development & Market Access, Smith + Nephew Advanced Wound Management, Sant Joan despí, Barcelona. Leticia Muñoz-García, PhD, MSc, RN, is Clinical Partner Iberia, Smith + Nephew Advanced Wound Management, Sant Joan Despí. Acknowledgments: The authors thank Outcomes'10 for scientific consulting in data analysis and editing of this manuscript and acknowledge the collaboration of the following healthcare professionals in data collection: Irene Sainz Rozas Aparicio, Elena Andreu Muñoz, Julia Huerta Fernandez, Miriam Díaz de Espada López de Ondategui, Peter Tadorian Ramos, Verónica Lozano Rodriguez, Maria Ángeles Pérez Corcoles, Vicente Martínez López, José Vicente Cardona Gómez, Concha Josa Conejos, Leticia García Laporta, Estrella Villar Vera, Lucía Fernández Bielsa, Inma Portolés Rincón, Nieves Puig Zanon, Celia Rodado Guirado, Zulaica Gutiérrez Méndez, Maria Jesús Sánchez Sánchez, Ana María García Soleto, María del Carmen García Casado, Francisco Dominguez Arévalo, Jose Antonio Moyano Muñoz-Reja, Lorena Hornero Zabala, Severiano García Sánchez, Yolanda Rizzo Losada, Íria Vázquez Cabido, Francisco Javier Barreiros Ribao, María Cid Gómez, Ángel Rodríguez Álvarez, María Floren Vale Iglesias, Josefa Gregoria Paz Lorenzo, Isabel González Lameiro, Soledad Valencia Barrera, Mª Teresa Fernández Rodríguez, Josefa Rodríguez Araujo, and Cristina Suárez Fernández. Further, the authors would like to acknowledge María Concepción Navarro-Penela, MD, for coordinating the study in the Comunidad Valenciana. Finally, authors are grateful to Juan Cano Cánovas for the study design and development and Gloria Lorente Granados and +QCuidar for training and clinical monitoring in Orense and Mérida. Tim Styche, Francisco José Valenzuela-Ocaña, and Leticia Muñoz García have disclosed that they are employees of Smith + Nephew.
Objective:
To study the impact of a newly introduced dressing on efficiency and quality of care in routine clinical practice in a Spanish community setting.
Design And Setting:
An ambispective multicenter observational study was conducted in 24 primary care centers and 6 nursing homes in 4 different Spanish regions. The study was carried out between November 2017 and March 2019.
Patients And Intervention:
A total of 128 wounds in 94 patients (primary care, n = 79; nursing home, n = 15) were analyzed before and 4 weeks after switching to the study dressing.
Outcome Measures:
Frequency of dressing changes; secondary outcomes were change in the mean wound area and weekly cost and patient and provider satisfaction.
Main Results:
The mean number of dressing changes was significantly reduced with the study dressing from 3.14 ± 1.77 changes per week to 1.66 ± 0.87 (P < .001), a 47.1% reduction in frequency. Wound area significantly reduced from 9.90 ± 19.62 cm to 7.10 ± 24.33 cm. In addition, a 58.7% reduction in weekly costs was achieved with the intervention. Patients and providers agreed that their satisfaction with wound care improved.
Conclusions:
The use of the study dressing in routine clinical practice could lead to a major improvement in both efficiency and quality of wound care. Its use could reduce wound care-related costs through improvements in healing and a reduced frequency of dressing changes. It also enhanced the wound care experience from the perspective of both patients and providers.
