Clinical evidence
A comparison of Mepilex and conventional dressings
Patients with chronic wounds who were treated with atraumatic dressings such as Mepilex®, reported less pain and stress at dressing change than patients who received conventional dressings.
The impact of atraumatic vs conventional dressings on pain and stress
Upton, D., Solowiej, K. Journal of Wound Care 2012;21(5):209-215
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- Wound pain can contribute significantly to stress and a variety of studies of biopsy, surgical and chronic wounds have shown that pain-induced stress can result in delayed wound healing.
- In addition to pain from the wound itself, pain can also result from continuous wound treatment, as well as anticipatory pain.
- Pain caused by the removal and re-application of dressings has been identified as a major contributor to wound pain.
- Patients may benefit from the use of atraumatic dressings as opposed to conventional dressings, since pain-induced stress has been shown to reduce healing rates of chronic wounds.
- Hence, appropriate dressing selection should form a significant part of recommended individual pain management plans.
- Atraumatic dressings, such as soft silicone, utilise technologies that have been developed to avoid adherence to the wound bed.
- It has been hypothesized that patients using atraumatic dressings as part of their treatment regimen might experience less pain at dressing change compared with when using conventional dressings.
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Aims
To explore whether different dressing types were associated with the pain and stress experiences of patients with chronic wounds.
Methods
- This exploratory study was conducted to identify any differences between reported levels of pain and stress associated with the use of atraumatic and conventional dressings used in the treatment of patients with chronic wounds.
- The following psychological measures were implemented:
- The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)
- The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
- A numerical stress rating scale
- At dressing change, the PSS and STAI questionnaires were read aloud to each patient and verbal responses were recorded by a member of the research team.
Results
- Of 49 patients with chronic wounds, 53% were male (n=26) and 47% were female (n=23). Age ranged between 38 and 95 years, with a mean age of 69.1±14.1.
- Wound types were of varying aetiologies and were treated with either atraumatic dressings, such as Mepilex, or conventional dressings such as Biatain®* or Aquacel®* Ag, (Table 1).
*Aquacel is a registered trademark of ConvaTec Inc. Biatain is a registered trademark of Coloplast A/S.
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