Non-invasive Electrical Nerve Stimulation To Improve Healing Of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$206,210.00
Summary
Chronic venous leg ulcers are common in the elderly. They often last for many months or years, causing much suffering and expense (currently around $600,000,000 per year in Australia). As more and more Australians live into advanced age, more and more people will be troubled by leg ulcers, particularly as the likelihood of having a leg ulcer increases markedly in the very old. We have developed a painless, cheap treatment that improves wound healing. The treatment consists of electrical stimulat ....Chronic venous leg ulcers are common in the elderly. They often last for many months or years, causing much suffering and expense (currently around $600,000,000 per year in Australia). As more and more Australians live into advanced age, more and more people will be troubled by leg ulcers, particularly as the likelihood of having a leg ulcer increases markedly in the very old. We have developed a painless, cheap treatment that improves wound healing. The treatment consists of electrical stimulation of nerves that supply the wound. Low frequency current is passed through the skin from small battery powered stimulators. We have tested this technique in laboratory animals and in just a few older people with diabetes and have shown it is remarkably effective. We now plan to test this technique properly in a large study in older adults. If successful, the electrical stimulation could result in healing of wounds in relatively few weeks that otherwise would not heal for many months. Much suffering and expense would be avoided. As people age, nerve function deteriotes. Another part of the project will explore whether electrical nerve stimulation can improve damaged nerves themselves. This will provide interesting scientific insight about nerve repair and could lead to treatments for peripheral neuropathy that occurs in diabetes and other medical conditions. Australia needs to act on this now because the number of people aged over 65 will increase from around 2.3 million at present to over 6 million in the next half century. The increase in those over 85 will be even more marked with numbers increasing four fold to over one million people. Many of these people will experience severe impairment of their quality of life from leg ulcers that could be avoided, or at least minimized if a successful treatment is developed and made available to them. Similarly, much unnecessary expense could be avoided.Read moreRead less
Facilitating Venous Leg Ulcer Guideline Implementation: Closing The Gap
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$177,197.00
Summary
Venous leg ulcers are a continuing challenge to patients, health care professionals and healthcare systems. Healing is protracted and ulcer recurrence common. Early identification and treatment is paramount to optimise health. Best practice treatment is compression, however more than 50% of ulcers remain unhealed after two years due to variability in clinical practice. I will conduct a scoping systematic review to identify reasons for gaps between evidence-based care and clinical practice.
Development And Pre-clinical Evaluation Of A Novel Wound Dressing Treatment For Chronic Ulcers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$125,040.00
Summary
Chronic leg ulcers are a common, painful and costly reality for many Australians, impacting on sufferers' mobility, social interactions and overall quality of life. This research is directed at developing a novel cost-effective wound dressing for treatment of this condition. This will be achieved through neutralising the ulcer's toxic proteolytic environment through an interactive wound dressing. This then will allow the body's own cells to promote wound healing.
Identifying The Relationship Between Biochemical Markers And Healing In Chronic Leg Ulcers Treated With Compression
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$374,159.00
Summary
Chronic leg ulcers are a significant cause of pain, immobility and decreased quality of life for 1 - 3% of the over 60 years age group. The condition is difficult to heal and commonly becomes a long term problem, costing the Australian health care system over $500 million - year. Additional costs to the community include loss of productivity and social support systems necessary for people with limited mobility. As the number of people aged over 65 years is expected to double in the next few deca ....Chronic leg ulcers are a significant cause of pain, immobility and decreased quality of life for 1 - 3% of the over 60 years age group. The condition is difficult to heal and commonly becomes a long term problem, costing the Australian health care system over $500 million - year. Additional costs to the community include loss of productivity and social support systems necessary for people with limited mobility. As the number of people aged over 65 years is expected to double in the next few decades, this problem will become increasingly significant. Most chronic leg ulcers are caused by venous disease, and compression bandage therapy is the accepted standard treatment. However, there is little information available on the cellular responses associated with compression treatment and how they promote wound healing. The project proposed here will examine the cellular responses to compression and investigate the relationships between these cellular responses and wound healing. Knowledge gained from the study will provide valuable information for improved techniques to promote wound healing, improved ulcer healing rates, informed decisions on wound care treatment, improved qualtiy of life and reduced health care costs.Read moreRead less
Investigating Healing Outcomes In People With Venous Ulcers: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$340,834.00
Summary
Venous leg ulcers (VLU) are an extremely common, debilitating, costly problem and the burden is expected to rise with the ageing population, obesity and diabetes. Standard best practice treatment includes compression bandaging of the lower leg by tight bandaging. Application of 3 layer (3L) tubular bandage appears to be a promising new treatment according to a pilot study. We will conduct a randomised controlled trial to investigate improvement in healing with 3L and to measure cost-effectivenes ....Venous leg ulcers (VLU) are an extremely common, debilitating, costly problem and the burden is expected to rise with the ageing population, obesity and diabetes. Standard best practice treatment includes compression bandaging of the lower leg by tight bandaging. Application of 3 layer (3L) tubular bandage appears to be a promising new treatment according to a pilot study. We will conduct a randomised controlled trial to investigate improvement in healing with 3L and to measure cost-effectiveness when compared to standard compression.Read moreRead less
Evaluation A Novel Vitronectin:growth Factor Complex For Treatment Of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$854,975.00
Summary
Chronic leg ulcers in the elderly are an important problem, diminshing quality of life and costing at least A$1 billion per year. New treatments are urgently required. This study will test a new topical growth factor therapy designed to have greatly improved activity in wounds.The project is a collaboration between scientists and doctors at the Queensland Univeristy of Technology and the University of Western Australia. Many wound types may ultimately benefit from this treatment.
Preventing Recurrence Of Leg Ulcers In Older Adults With Peripheral Vascular Disease: Identifying Predictors And Evaluating Strategies.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$311,860.00
Summary
Peripheral vascular disease – disease of the arteries and veins in the limbs – leads to chronic leg ulcers for 1–4% of adults aged over 60. The ulcers are slow and difficult to heal and after healing, up to 70% recur, many within a few weeks. The aim of this research is to identify predictors and evaluate strategies to prevent recurrence of chronic leg ulcers; and improve our understanding of relationships between biology, localised disease and health in adults suffering from chronic leg ulcers.
Clinical Effectiveness Of Aspirin In Healing Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers: A Randomised Double-blinded Placebo-controlled Trial
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$791,980.00
Summary
Chronic venous leg ulcers (VLU) are a common and costly problem. People with chronic wounds found on the ankles and legs can be spontaneous or occur after minor trauma, they are often painful and ooze fluid. The burden is expected to rise with an ageing population and growing epidemic of diabetes and obesity which will increase challenges for clinicians. We will perform a clinical trial to see if aspirin plus 3 layer compression in people with venous leg ulcers heal more quickly.
Identification Of Early Predictors Of Non-healing Venous Leg Ulcers And Development Of A Risk Assessment Tool
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$43,271.00
Summary
Venous leg ulcers make up about 70% of all chronic leg ulcers and are often debilitating. This project aims to examine the relationships between physiological and psychosocial variables in patients with chronic venous leg ulcers in relation to healing at 24 weeks thereby guiding the development of a risk assessment tool that will then be tested. Identification of risk factors for non-healing at 24 weeks would offer an opportunity for clinicians to be able to determine realistic outcomes.