70-year-old wheelchair-bound female scalded right thigh; 5.7cm x 17cm second-degree burn with moderate serous drainage. PMH: CREST Syndrome, non-healing ulcer to left foot related to CREST Syndrome, and right below-knee amputation related to peripheral arterial disease. Initial wound care by patient with petrolatum ointment and silver sulfadiazine 1% cream resulted in no improvement after four days of treatment. Wound very painful.

When silver sulfadiazine 1% cream was used, wound required twice-a-day dressing changes which included cleansing, placing silver sulfadiazine on a non-adhering dressing, and securing with gauze wrap.

Polymeric membrane dressings contain a cleanser, allowing quick “on and off” change protocol which decreases wound's exposure to air during dressing changes, reducing risk of infection. Polymeric membrane dressings also concentrate the body's naturally produced growth factors, nutrients and regenerated cells in wound bed.

Burn area debrided. Polymeric membrane dressing placed on wound, secured with soft cloth tape, covered with stretch netting, changed 3x/week. No wound cleansing needed because dressing's wound cleanser thoroughly and continuously cleansed wound during use.

After third dressing change, pain no longer an issue. Polymeric membrane dressings also decreased inflammation, increased patient comfort, effectively absorbed exudates, softened fibrin, decreased need for debridement, prevented maceration and decreased number of dressing changes required. Burn healed within 14 days (six dressings) of initiation of polymeric membrane dressing use despite patient's challenging chronic underlying disease.

Polymeric membrane dressings were cost and time efficient. Decreasing the pain of burn wounds and decreasing healing time are two important goals for both patients and clinicians. Polymeric membrane dressings achieved both goals and thus were excellent dressings to use on this second-degree burn.

*PolyMem^® Wound Dressings, Ferris Mfg. Corp., Burr Ridge, IL 60527