Compounding Pearls -- Wound Care: Drugs and Formulations for Dermal Healing, Part 2

Diseases of and injuries to the human skin have been recognized since antiquity as health hazards that can increase morbidity and mortality and greatly compromise quality of life. The earliest effective treatments for such conditions and disorders were compounded, as were all ancient medicaments, to accommodate individual patient sensitivities and responses to therapy. That tradition continues today in precision pharmaceutical compounding, which is an essential component in a triad of medical and pharmaceutical care that actively involves physicians, pharmacists, and patients. To ensure a good therapeutic outcome, compounders must be acutely aware of drug compatibilities and adverse interactions. Those topics are addressed in this second article in a series on agents that, when effectively compounded, promote dermal healing when conventional therapies fail to do so or cannot be tolerated by the patient. Misoprostol, gabapentin, ketamine, and aloe vera are described in that regard. Formulations that are, at the time of this writing, unavailable in the literature are also provided.