Friday, October 31, 2008
13993

‘The use of Kaltostat with VAC dressings'

Amanda Isaac, MBChB, MRCS, Marco Malahias, MBChB, MRCS, and Mohamed Jawad, FRCS, (Plast).

We report a simple method to improve the quality of VAC dressings:
 Whilst applying the VAC dressing to promote wound healing¹ to an area which has been grafted/debrided the ooze from the raw bed, sometimes interferes with the clear adhesive film to seal off the area in question.
Kaltostat consists of an absorbent fibrous alginic acid material. The dressing is presented as a flat sheet for application to surface wounds, which aids wound healing².
By laying Kaltostat around the edges of the wound, this ooze is contained thus keeping the surrounding edges of skin dry and clean, allowing the adhesive film to stick properly.  References: (¹) Banwell P, Withey S, Holten I. The use of negative pressure to promote healing. Br J Plast Surg 1998; 51(1): 79. (²) Attwood AI, Calcium alginate dressing accelerates split skin graft donor site healing, Br. J. Plast. Surg. 1989, 42, 373-379.