Clinical evaluation of Epi-Lock--a semiocclusive dressing

Epi-Lock, a new semiocclusive, semipermeable dressing, was evaluated against standard therapy for three common emergency department wounds: partial thickness burns, deep abrasions, and selected lacerations. Comparison was made of quality of wound healing; rate of wound healing; level of pain experienced, postdressing, by the patient; and ease of use by the staff. One hundred patients in each group (standard treatment versus Epi-Lock) included approximately 40 burns, 35 abrasions, and 25 lacerations in each subgroup. The results of this study showed a statistically significant difference (P less than .01) in all categories for Epi-Lock versus standard therapy. Epi-Lock may be a useful new dressing for all types of wounds presenting to the emergency department.