A prospective, open, multicentre study to evaluate a new gelling fibre dressing containing silver in the management of venous leg ulcers.

This study investigated the performance of a new gelling fibre dressing containing silver (DURAFIBER™ Ag; Smith & Nephew, Hull, UK) in moderate to highly exuding venous leg ulcers with one or more clinical signs of infection. Fourteen patients with venous leg ulceration of median ulcer duration 12·5 weeks, recruited from three centres in South Africa, received treatment with the new dressing for a maximum of 8 weeks. Multilayer compression bandaging was used for all patients, at the majority of assessments. The objectives of this study were to assess the clinical acceptability of the dressing in terms of the following characteristics: antimicrobial properties, the progress of the wound towards healing, wear time, exudate management, conformability, patient comfort, pain on application, pain on removal and dressing integrity. The new dressing was rated as clinically acceptable for all characteristics, for all 14 patients (100%). It was easy to apply and remove; in 96·8% of removals, the dressing stayed intact on removal and could be removed in one piece. Fifty per cent of the wounds healed within the 8-week study duration; between baseline and final assessment, the median percentage reduction in wound area was 98·2% and the median percentage reduction in devitalised tissue was 78%. Exudate levels and wound pain were significantly improved at final assessment compared to baseline assessment, and an increase in the number of patients with healthy peri-wound skin between baseline and final assessment was observed. A reduction in bioburden and signs of clinical infection and an improvement in quality of life were observed over the 8-week period. The average wear time was 6·4 days. This study supports the use of new dressing in the management of moderately to highly exuding venous leg ulcers with clinical signs of infection.