Utilization of a novel active Leptospermum honey gel dressing for debridement and healing of Venous Leg Ulcers

Active Leptospermum honey (ALH) has a growing body of evidence documenting debridement, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory benefits making it a reliable treatment option for venous leg ulcers (VLUs) portraying these symptoms along with slowed healing.

One challenge when utilizing ALH was the ability to maintain the ALH at the site of the wound.  The application of honey to the body, an increase in temperature, and gravity could potentiate it to run out of the wound bed.

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and satisfaction of a new ALH gel on VLUs.  The gel is 80% ALH and 20% gelling agents allowing for the ALH to maintain contact with the wound bed.

Five challenging VLU patients that had failed other wound treatments in combination with compression were trialed with this new ALH gel.  The gel replaced the prior topical treatment on these wounds and compression was continued.

The ALH gel led to a decrease in non-viable tissue, an increase in granulation tissue, and a decreased wound area in all patients.  One also reported a marked decrease in pain that he had not experienced prior to the ALH gel.    

This new ALH gel obtained high clinician satisfaction as it was easier to apply and kept the ALH where it was placed. Consequently, it also appeared to speed wound healing.  Patients were extremely satisfied in that their wounds healed more rapidly and they experienced less pain than they did from other agents.

Overall, the new ALH gel appears to be an effective agent for wound healing, debridement, management of wounds colonized with bacteria, and promotion of granulation and epithelialization.  This gel shows great promise in continued use with VLUs and deserves additional study to further document the outcomes.