Eggshell plaster helps heal chronic wounds
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ing initial speeds results up suggest healing the by eggshell providing dress- the proteins that skin needs, according to the manufacturer, Biovotec.
chronic wounds — those that take more than six weeks to heal — include foot ulcers, a common complication of diabetes as a result of poor blood flow; pressure or bed sores; and leg ulcers caused by high blood pressure in the veins of the legs.
chronic wounds affect more than a million patients every year. the normal healing process starts with red blood cells forming a clot to stop bleeding and seal the wound. then, white blood cells see off any infection. collagen, a protein that helps form the scaffolding of tissue, is delivered to replace lost tissue.
Finally, the outer skin layers contract to close the wound.
However with chronic wounds, healing stops early. the collagen scaffolding does not form properly, leaving the wound open. this can occur for a number of reasons, including poor blood and oxygen supply or a weak immune system.
there are a range of treatments for chronic wounds, including dressings that mimic the role of the extracellular matrix — the tissue that forms the bulk of skin and is involved in the healing process — and collagen.
But many are extracted from animals, such as fish skin and pig and horse tissue, which makes them expensive and therefore offered by the nHS only to patients with severe chronic wounds.
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new dressing is made from the food industry’s recycled eggshells and is much cheaper, so could be offered to more patients — possibly even before their wounds become hard to treat.
the eggshell membrane helps to protect the egg from bacteria and is involved in its growth. it is similar in structure to the extracellular matrix of human skin.
to use it as a treatment, the eggshell is sterilised and the inner membrane peeled off, crushed into a powder and made into a dressing that can be placed on a wound. Seven to eight eggs are used to make a standard- sized dressing of 10cm x 10cm (4 in x 4 in). it looks like a blister plaster with a gel-like layer and is applied and changed like a normal plaster. it is kept in place with conventional bandages.
‘the eggshell membrane-based dressing is expected to cost considerably less than collagenbased dressings,’ says Hussein Dharma of the national institute for Health Research Woundtec Healthcare technology cooperative, an nHS organisation that helps research wound care, based at Bradford Royal infirmary.
‘ the affordability of these dressings and the anticipated i increase in healing rates is expected to save the nHS significant costs, while improving q quality of life for patients.’ in a recent presentation at the SymposiumS on Advanced Wound care in the U.S., Biovotec showed that the eggshell dressing cont tained collagen-like proteins and components that encouraged normal healing in mice.
BioVotec’S
dressing also had comparable results to the most advanced wound dressing after 20 days. the next stage is British clinical trials of up to 40 patients with chronic leg ulcers, which is planned for early 2017.
the hope is that the dressing could be available in nHS hospitals by 2018.
‘Any advance in wound healing that is cost- effective is worth exploring,’ says Jeremy crane, a consultant transplant and vascular surgeon at imperial college Healthcare nHS trust.
‘chronic leg ulcers are a massive problem that’s growing as our elderly population continues to rise in numbers.’
though this technology still has a long way to go to prove it really works, the eggshell dressing has great potential, says Mr crane.