Treatment of chronic wounds with polyurethane sponges impregnated with boric acid particles: A randomised controlled trial

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the sponge with boric acid particles combined with the negative pressure wound treatment (NPWT) system for chronic wounds with tissue defects. Our study was designed as a prospective randomised study. One hundred patients who were planned to have NPWT due to chronic wounds were included in this study from Orthopaedics and Traumatology and Plastic Surgery clinics. Patients were divided into two groups. In the first group, a new method, boric acid impregnated sponge, combined with the NPWT system, was used, and in the second group, sponge with silver nitrate was used. Besides the wide-broad spectrum antibacterial properties of silver nitrate, the antimicrobial, angiogenetic, and epithelial effects of boric acid were aimed to investigate by macroscopically and histopathologically. Thirty-six patients in the silver nitrate group and 44 patients in the boric acid group completed the study. A decrease in wound size and granulation was observed in both groups. Macroscopically, a decrease in wound size reduction, epithelialization and granulation were more prominent in the first group in which boric acid impregnated sponge was used than the second group in which silver sponge was used. Moreover, microscopically, the number of fibroblasts, collagen synthesis, and angiogenesis were significantly increased in Group 1. In this clinical study, the broad-spectrum antimicrobial properties of boric acid and its positive effect on the cells responsible for wound healing were found to be more pronounced compared to silver nitrate sponges. A combination of boric acid sponges with the NPWT system may be an alternative method for chronic wounds.