Clinical application of polylactic acid/gelatin nanofibre membrane in hard-to-heal lower extremity venous ulcers

Objective: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of polylactic acid/gelatin nanofibre membranes (PGNMs) in treating hard-to-heal lower extremity venous ulcer wounds. Method: In this prospective study, patients with venous leg ulcers (VLUs) were treated with PGNMs or standard of care. Wounds were assessed once a week until the wound was fully healed. Results: The treatment group was comprised of 10 patients with VLUs, aged between 47-64 years, with an average age of 56.58 +/- 6.19 years. The wounds were located in the lower leg and/or ankle. Average wound area was 8.91 +/- 13.57cm(2) (range: 1.5-52.5cm(2)). Average wound healing time was 18.75 +/- 16.36 days. Of the patients, nine (90%) rated their pain as lighter when removing the dressing, with an average pain value of 2.0 +/- 1.0 points. There was less secondary trauma to the wound surface, and less bleeding. At six months after the wound healing, the scar evaluation (using the Vancouver Scar Scale) result was 3.75 +/- 1.96 points. Conclusion: In this study, the PGNMs were safe and effective in treating hard-to-heal lower extremity VLUs.