New Perspectives in the Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Wounds

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Medical Imaging and Theranostics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2024) | Viewed by 818

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
SerenaGroup Research Foundation, Cambridge, MA, USA
Interests: chronic wound; diabetic foot ulcer; venous leg ulcer; wound infections; pressure ulcer
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Millions of patients across the globe suffer from nonhealing wounds. The specialty of wound care has emerged to meet the needs of this rapidly expanding population. This Special Issue, titled ‘New Perspectives in the Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Wounds’, welcomes the submission of manuscripts on advances in the field of wound healing. Diagnostics is seeking articles which focus on novel technologies that promote the healing of chronic wounds, reduce bacterial bioburden, or address the underlying abnormalities that impede wound healing. The Editors of this Special Issue are particularly interested in the endpoints in wound healing clinical trials, trial design, and technologies that improve the conduct of wound healing trials. The advent of decentralized and hybrid clinical trials leveraging digital technology and artificial intelligence is of particular interest. This Special Issue also plans to highlight recent research in wound diagnostics, including bacterial detection, biofilm identification, host protease levels, pH monitoring, perfusion, oxygenation, and novel biomarkers. In addition to clinical studies, this Special Issue hopes to include benchtop research examining the basic science of wound healing. As Guest Editor, I have a strong interest in combination clinical trials that evaluate products used simultaneously or in a sequential fashion. Please join me in making this Special Issue a valuable resource for wound care specialists worldwide.

Dr. Thomas E. Serena
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

9 pages, 4833 KiB  
Communication
A Diagnostic-Driven Prospective Clinical Study Evaluating the Combination of an Antibiofilm Agent and Negative Pressure Wound Therapy
by Thomas E. Serena, Emily King, Laura Serena, Kristy Breisinger, Omar Al-Jalodi and Matthew F. Myntti
Diagnostics 2024, 14(7), 774; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14070774 - 07 Apr 2024
Viewed by 616
Abstract
Background: Each year, millions of Americans develop truncal pressure ulcers (PUs) which can persist for months, years, or until the end of life. Despite the negative impact on quality of life and escalating costs associated with PUs, there is sparse evidence supporting validated [...] Read more.
Background: Each year, millions of Americans develop truncal pressure ulcers (PUs) which can persist for months, years, or until the end of life. Despite the negative impact on quality of life and escalating costs associated with PUs, there is sparse evidence supporting validated and efficacious treatment options. As a result, treatment is based on opinion and extrapolation from other wound etiologies. The ideal reconstructive plan maximizes the patient’s nutritional status, incorporates the basic tenets of wound bed preparation (debridement, offloading, proper moisture balance, reduction of bacterial burden), and employs diagnostics to guide therapeutic intervention. The use of combination therapies can potentially overcome several of the barriers to wound healing. Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), a commonly used modality in the management of PUs, facilitates healing by stimulating the formation of granulation tissue and promoting wound contraction; however, NPWT alone is not always effective. Clinical studies examining microbial bioburden in PUs determined that most ulcers contain bacteria at levels that impede wound healing (>104 CFU/g). Objective: Thus, we hypothesized that adding an anti-microbial agent to decrease both planktonic and biofilm bacteria in the wound would increase the efficacy of NPWT. Method: In this prospective study, twenty patients with recalcitrant PUs that previously failed NPWT were treated with a biofilm-disrupting agent (Blast-X, Next Science, Jacksonville, FL, USA) in combination with NPWT. Fluorescence imaging was used to follow bacterial burden and guide therapy. Results: In total, 45% of the PUs reduced in size over the course of the four-week study, with a resolution of bacterial fluorescence in the NPWT dressing and wound bed seen in an average of three weeks. Conclusion: The combination of an antibiofilm agent and NPWT reduced bacterial levels and improved wound healing in recalcitrant PUs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Perspectives in the Diagnosis and Management of Chronic Wounds)
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