• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.23-33
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• 2003

This morphological study was carried out to investigate the healing effect of open and occlusive dressing on rabbit skin wounds. The male white rabbits were given incision wound measuring 1.0cm in length and excision wound measuring $1.0{\times}0.2cm$ respectively on backs. Five rabbits among their received sterilization with beta dine twice a day and kept wound open. Another group of rabbits received sterilization and occlusive dressing with application of 1% sulfadiazine ointment and covering of gauze. The rabbits were observed at 5, 10, and 15 days after dressing with light microscope. The results were as follows. Both incision and excision wounds received open and occlusive dressing respectively revealed formation of scab and regeneration of epidermal epithelial cells at wound margin. The superficial dermis showed infiltration of neutrophils, monocytes, and lymphocytes, fibroblastic proliferation, and edema. On 10 days after opera and occlusive dressing the scab had disappeared and regeneration of epidermal epithelium was completed. The capillaries and inflammatory cells were decreased in number. However, edema and fibroblastic proliferation were more pronounced. On 15 days after opera and occlusive dressing, there were keratinization of regenerated epidermal epithelium, loss of inflammatory infiltration, edema, and capillary proliferation, and increase of fibroblastic proliferation and collagen fibers. The amounts of scars were less in incision wound than of excision one. There were no differences in healing processes between both dressing methods. According to the above results, it was conceived that sterilization of wound is more important in wound healing than dressing method in trivial wounds.

• Journal of Korean Foot and Ankle Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.156-162
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• 2008

Purpose: Open fractures of the foot and ankle require prompt repair of the wound due to the complexity of anatomy, insufficiency of soft tissues and inadequate blood supply. Early flaps and skin grafts are used for this purpose yet general condition of the patient as well as local wound environment often precludes such treatment options. Vacuum- Assisted Closure (VAC) is recently being used in such cases. This study was done to validate the use of VAC together with silver antimicrobial dressing materials in contaminated open fracture wounds. Materials and Methods: We have selected 10 patients with Gustillo-Anderson type III open fractures of the foot & ankle treated with VAC and silver antimicrobial dressing materials from March 2007 to January 2008. The relationship between duration of treatment with wound size, contamination, and degree of soft tissue damage was analyzed. Results: The average age of patients was 36.6 years. The average amount of VAC application time was 23.4 days. Silver dressing materials were used for 16.8 days. Average wound healing time was 51.9 days. Statistically significant relationship was found between wound size, VAC application time and silver dressing material application time. No complications such as osteomyelitis were found after treatment. Conclusion: VAC technique is recently being used in open fractures with wide skin and soft tissue defects, producing good results. A wide array of dressing materials such as silver dressing is in development. We have incorporated the VAC technique together with silver dressing materials in the treatment of open fractures and achieved complication free results.