![[ Visit WOCN Website ]](/img/wocn/2011am/header.gif)
Problem: Pressure ulcers negatively impact quality of life of the spinal cord injured population. It has been estimated that 60% of SCI patients will develop pressure ulcers, with an estimated cost of $70,000 to treat a full thickness wound. As such, there is a critical need for aggressive therapy to treat pressure ulcers capable of accelerating wound healing, increasing the patients' quality of life, and decreasing the economic impact on the VA system.
Past management included wound products to help maintain a moist environment to promote healing. Therapy focused on debridement and repeated mechanical stimulation of the wound bed to promote tissue granulation and repair. Wounds took months, if not years, to heal and for many patients definitive wound closure was never attained.
Current Therapy: Recalcitrant pressure ulcers lack needed growth factors for repair becoming stagnant in the inflammatory phase of wound healing. Platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP) is developing as a potential treatment for chronic wounds. PRP contains growth factors and bioactive proteins that have been shown to positively influence the healing of tendon, ligament, muscles, and bone. The sustained release of large quantities of autologous growth factors, cytokines, and other mediators found in PRP may help to stimulate wound healing and resolve chronic inflammation.
Outcomes: Three SCI veterans, presenting with chronic Stage IV pelvic pressure ulcers, were treated with a sustained release PRP therapy to stimulate wound healing. PRP treatment consistently resulted in the formation of granulation tissue and improved vascularity for each of the three patients treated, while reducing overall ulcer area and volume. The controlled release of growth factors form PRP demonstrated a positive stimulatory effect on the healing rate of chronic pressure ulcers in these patients.