Funding Body

Angior Family Foundation ($160,000)

Project Description

The project is a collaboration between RDNS Victoria and Silver Chain and is  a randomised controlled clinical trial comparing the outcomes for infected/colonised chronic leg ulcers which are treated with cadexomer iodine and a standard dressing, with those treated with a silver impregnated wound dressing.

The outcomes being measured include length of time the wound is infected/colonised and wound healing rate.  The wound healing rate is calculated using AMWIS, a software program which calculates a number of different wound parameters including healing rate from consecutive photographs of the wound.

Project Update

Recruitment to the trial was completed in March 2007: RDNS recruited 180 clients and Silver Chain 101.  Of the RDNS clients, 107 clients had wounds that healed, 5 withdrew or died and 68 had wounds that did not heal at the end of the 12 week trial period.  The corresponding figures for the Silver Chain clients were: 60 healed, 20 withdrew, and 21 did not heal in the 12 weeks.

Since then there has been preliminary data analysis and a number of articles have been published. More recently preliminary results have been presented both at National and International Wound Care conferences.

Further analysis is in progress but it is likely that further research may also be needed to explore ways of capitalising on the findings. In the meantime these results and various other papers are being written for publication.

A number of papers other than those related to the results have been published or are in the process of being written, those published thus far are listed below and recent presentations/further publications will be added soon.

The final project report is being written currently and will be completed over the next few months.

Publications

Clinician inter-rater reliability using a medical wound imaging system [PDF]
Flowers, C., Newall, N., Kapp, S., Lewin, G., Gliddon, T., Carville, K., Martinelli, D., Santamaria, N. 2008. Clinician inter-rater reliability using a medical wound imaging system.  Wound Practice and Research 16(1): 22-31.

The Angior trial: community nurse perceptions of wound best practice initiatives, November 2007 [PDF]
Flowers, C., Kapp, S., Lewin, G., Newall, N., Carville, K., Gliddon, T. 2007.  The Angior trial: community nurse perceptions of wound best practice initiatives. Primary Intention 15(4): 149-56.

Related Links

Wound Care Manual
An up to date practical guide for the management of all types of wounds.

For further information please contact
Nelly Newall
Clinical Research Co-ordinator
Email  NNewall@silverchain.org.au