Smith & Nephew touts reduced pressure ulcers in Allevyn Life dressing trial

Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN) today released results from a trial of its Allevyn Life multi-layer polyurethane dressing used in treating elderly patinets with hip fractures, touting reduced onset of pressure ulcers. Results from the trial were presented at the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel annual meeting this year, the company said. Data in the trial came from experiences with 359 fragility hip fracture patients aged 65 and over at Bologna, Italy’s Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, run by research nursing centre head Dr. Christiana Forni. “Hip fractures in the elderly are a serious problem due to the high rate of mortality and complications such as pressure ulcers, which occur mainly in the sacral area. Preventive measures play an important role in increasing quality of care, reducing health costs and improving the patient’s quality of life. Our research shows that Allevyn Life is effective at reducing the rate of pressure ulcers in the sacrum in elderly patients with hip fracture. The excellent adhesiveness of this device also enables costs to be kept down,” Dr. Forni said in a prepared statement. Patients in the trial were divided into two groups, with half being treated with the standard of care and half with the addition of the Allevyn Life dressing appliced to the sacrum. Results indicated that 15.4% of patients who received the standard-of-care treatment developed pressure ulcers, much higher than the 4.5% rate of pressure ulcers in the group ...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Clinical Trials Orthopedics Smith & Nephew Source Type: news