A patient was diagnosed with Diabetic Type 1 and hypertension. She came to the clinic with a wound on the lateral side of her left heel. The wound was caused by a hot stove and an electric mattress that she used for therapy. The heel first became scalded, which led to redness and eventually to a dry and black necrotic wound of 4cm x 4cm.
Medical Grade Honey reduced size of the wound by 50% in 2 weeks time!
The ulcer was first cleaned with a superoxidised solution after which the honey ointment was applied directly on the wound bed. The wound was covered with a honey hydrogel (L-Mesitran Border) to absorb possible excess fluids and to provide a protective pad on the delicate heel. This was done the first week of daily treatment and thereafter, theBorder dressing was replaced with a non-adhering absorbent compress because the exudates were significantly reduced.
Over a 14 day period,the wound was reduced by 50% in size. The peri-wound area was no longer red and the necrosis was weakened by the autolytic debridement of the ointment, facilitating that the necrosis could be removed manually.
On the 4th of May the wound still showed slough, but the wound edges were firm (pic. 7). The reduction in wound size showed that the infection was controlled and wound healing well on its way.
In this case, the staphylococcus aureus infection was controlled in 4 days, without using antibiotics and the imminent amputation in the beginning was avoided after 50% wound reduction was achieved.
Prior to admission, the patient was treated with Intrasite gel, Iruxol mono ointment and standard Suprasorb (H) hydrocolloids. A culture swab taken upon admission to the clinic showed that the wound was infected by staphylococcus aureus with a moderate growth of the bacteria which were susceptible to antibiotics.
The patient was enrolled in an evaluation study of the honey-based products L-Mesitran. The expectation was that L-Mesitran could provide an environment unfavourable for the staphylococcus aureus and would start wound healing, without having to resort to antibiotics.
