As wound care treatment costs continue to escalate, an unprecedented effort is underway to learn more about the ways wounds develop and can be best treated.
In fact, a new report from Kalorama Information predicts that the global wound care market will surpass $20 billion in the next two years.
That’s certainly welcome news for the firms that make wound care products. The report sees more use of negative pressure wound therapy products. These use unique dressings and vacuum technology to speed healing.
Still, much remains to be learned about wounds and how best to treat them. Last year, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality awarded the Johns Hopkins Evidence-based Practice Center nearly half a million dollars to investigate state-of-the-art wound care. The center has been tasked with determining what’s known about medications, antibiotics, dressings and surgery, and establishing strategies proven to work.
The review will focus largely on lower extremity wounds, which can be complications of leg ulcers and diabetes and be exacerbated by obesity and poor nutrition. But investigators also expect to learn more about other types of wounds, such as pressure ulcers that are seen in long-term care settings.
Across the United States, about seven million people have chronic wounds. About $25 billion is spent annually on their care, according to a study that called this a “snowballing threat to public health.”
From the June 01, 2012 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
