(CS-023) Treatment of Chronic, Complicated Wounds with a Novel Ovine Forestomach Matrix and Hyaluronic Acid Composite Graft

Kerry Thibodeaux, MD, FACS, CWSP, FAPWCA; Tracy Winkley, PT, CWS, CLT, FACCWS, DAPWCA

Introduction: In 2020, the burden of chronic wounds impacted the quality of life of approximately 2.5% of the United States population and continues to climb.1 Chronic wounds include those that are unresponsive to appropriate initial therapy or remain persistent for greater than 3 months in the face of appropriate additional care. The occurrence of these wounds leaves patients frustrated and searching for additional options. The goal of this study was to use a novel extracellular matrix-hyaluronic acid (ECM-HA) product on complicated wound and patient types that have failed advanced treatments previously. The product is a cellular and/or tissue-based product (CTP) combining an extracellular matrix derived from ovine forestomach (OFM) and hyaluronic acid. This combination of OFM and HA is believed to facilitate moisture balance and support cellular infiltration and migration to drive improved wound closure.

Methods: Patients with various wound types (DFU, VLU, etc.) were selected from a single rural wound care center to receive multiple applications of ECM-HA graft. Wound measurements were obtained at each visit and used to calculate percent area reduction (PAR) for the wounds. All data was gathered retrospectively, exclusively through data found in electronic medical records.

Results:

All patients responded well to treatment with no device related adverse events. The use of the ECM-HA product had a substantial positive impact on wound trajectory, with approximately 75% of patients reaching at least 50% PAR by Week 12-13. 

Discussion: Historically, CTPs have been studied on less complicated and smaller wounds, primarily due to cost of the treatment. In this study, ECM-HA was shown to be an effective treatment for complicated wounds in a real-world clinic, especially wounds that were non-responsive to other types of therapy. Examples of the failed treatments include other bio-engineered dressings, vacuum-assisted wound closure, and hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Although this is a retrospective single-center study, these outcomes from a rural clinic will augment the more controlled data from a formal, Level 1 study in less severe patients.