Blind Comparative study between Silver nanoparticles dressings and Standard Moist Wound Dressings (SMWD) in management of diabetic foot ulcers

Abstract Background Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are the main cause of hospitalization in diabetic patients and they are considered a major worldwide health problem. Thus, there is a need to evaluate various treatment modalities. In this study we will assess the clinical efficacy of Silver nanoparticles dressing vs Standard Moist Wound Dressing (SMWD) in management of diabetic foot ulcers. Objective To compare wound outcome, limb salvage, healing time of diabetes related foot ulcers and cost effectiveness in terms of duration of hospital stay between Silver nanotechnology dressings and Standard moist wound therapy (SMWT) in management of diabetic foot ulcers. Patients and Methods This is a prospective randomized controlled study involving 34 patients with active diabetic foot ulcers, in a high volume tertiary referral vascular center. They were divided into 2 groups: 17 patients (group A) were prescribed SMWD and the other 17 patients (group B) received Silver nanoparticles wound dressing. Results Our study correlates with the study conducted by K.Suhas et al. which had observed that Silver nanoparticles wound dressing was safe and effective treatment for complex diabetic foot wounds and could lead to higher proportion of healed wounds and faster healing rates. At the end of the study, group B promised a better outcome as compared to group A. Conclusion The role of Silver nanoparticles wound dressing in healing of diabetic foot ulcers has been proposed as a novel method of manipulating the chronic wound environment in a way that it reduces bacterial burden and chronic interstitial wound fluid, increases vascularity and cytokine expression and to an extent mechanically exploiting the viscoelasticity of peri wound tissues.