Effect of Oasis-Ultra Matrix on the Healing Rate of Stage IV Pressure Wounds

Introduction:  (Oasis-ultra) is an extra cellular collagen rich matrix derived from porcine intestinal sub-mucosa. A prospective, multi-centered, randomized, single-blinded clinical trial was conducted to study the effects of Oasis-ultra combined with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) on the healing rate of stage IV pressure wounds versus NPWT alone.

Materials and Methods: Twelve subjects were involved in the study: six patients in the study group and six in the control group. NPWT was changed twice a week for all subjects, and Oasis-ultra was applied weekly. The wounds were measured weekly, and the healing rate was calculated for each subject for 12 weeks. The canisters were collected monthly for three months. For cytokine and growth factors analysis, 100µl 1XPBS were added to the sample, and protein concentration was determined using the Bradford assay. A (Bio-Rad) BioPlex 96 well plate was set up with 50 ml of the sample and duplicated for cytokine analysis using Bio-Plex (Bio-Rad).

Results: In the study group, the healing rate calculated at 12 weeks was found to be 86.6 % when compared to the control group, which was 55.3% only. Analysis of different growth factors, normally present in stage III & IV pressure wounds, including TGF-β1, bFGF, PDGF, VEGF, and IL-1ra revealed higher concentrations in the study group when compared with the control. Additionally, such proinflammatory cytokines as TNF-α, IL-1b, IL-6, IL-8, MIP-1a, and MCP-1 (MCAF) were down regulated as a result of treating the subjects in the study group with oasis-ultra.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the use of Oasis Ultra accelerates the healing rate of stage IV pressure wounds when combined with NPWT. Also, In the Oasis-ultra treated group, the proinflammatory cytokines were successfully inhibited. At the same time, Oasis-ultra promoted and upregulated the beneficial growth factors that had positive impact on the healing rate.