Treatment of Venous Insufficiency Complicated by Stasis Dermatitis: Less is More approach using Silver Moisture Management Wrap

Chronic venous insufficiency is responsible for 70% of chronic wounds to the lower extremities. (1) Due to the chronic nature of the venous insufficiency, skin injury from excessive weeping and drainage result in pruritus and excoriation. The traditional treatment for venous insufficiency ulcers is the use of compression wraps. However, compression wraps introduce other challenges such as managing exudate, protecting the periwound, and proper skin moisturizing. (2, 3) Many of the products used to treat one condition can cause an adverse reaction. The more products used, the more difficult it becomes to establish which products are helping or hurting. Contact dermatitis is common in venous ulcers, and the elderly population is at an increased risk because rashes, sensitivities, and stasis dermatitis, are more common among this population. (4) Three elderly patients with venous stasis ulcers were switched from their current treatments to a silver moisture management dressing in the form of the wrap. The patients were wrapped with the dressing directly in contact with the skin without the addition of any creams or ointments. Compression wraps were applied over the silver dressing. The use of one product reduced the risk of sensitivity and allowed accurate assessment of the impact of the silver dressing on the wound. All three patients showed improvement in wound size and health and a reduction in the frequency of dressing change. At least one patient showed a significant cost savings with the silver moisture management dressing. The dressing continues to be used on these patients and is currently being explored in a variety of other wound types.