Modulating inflammation in chronic wounds with collagen/ORC/silver

Aim: To determine if a collagen/oxidised regenerated cellulose (ORC)/silver therapy can aid in inflammatory protease reduction and improve chronic wound healing.

Introduction: Approximately 1-2% of the population has a chronic wound. Chronic wounds therefore pose a significant problem to the health service. A distinct feature associated with these wounds is the abnormally high level of inflammatory protease activity, which can result in the degradation of the extracellular matrix and growth factors thereby impeding the wound healing process. A therapy which helps reduce protease activity could therefore be therapeutic.

Method: In this study a collagen/ORC/silver therapy was used to treat patients with chronic venous leg ulcers. In addition to recording the clinical outcome, wound fluid samples were taken before and during treatment to evaluate the effect of collagen/ORC/silver on inflammatory protease activity. Inflammatory proteases were measured in wound fluid using standard methods.  Wounds which achieved >50% reduction in wound area by Week 4 (Margolis index) were considered to have responded to treatment and on a healing trajectory.

Results: By Week 4 more patients had responded to collagen/ORC/silver than the control treatment; this was indicative of total healing by Week 12. A reduction in inflammatory protease activity was also recorded as wounds progressed towards healing, indicating that these wounds were no longer stagnating in a chronic inflammatory state.

Conclusions: The clinical evidence presented here supports previous published data: collagen/ORC/silver helps reduce excessive inflammatory protease activity which can help promote healing.