Wound treatment costs comparing a bio-cellulose dressing with moist wound healing dressings and conventional dressings

AimThe aim of the present paper was to compare material and labour costs of a bio-cellulose dressing1 with traditional dressings (surgical pads, tulle grass, saline soaked gauze) and moist wound healing dressings.MethodsA prospective cohort study measured clinical efficacy, materials and labour costs when using bio-cellulose dressing1 + film2 or bio-cellulose dressing1 + foam.3 60 patients with 73 complex wounds of various aetiologies were treated for a period of 1 year, in an out-patient clinic setting in Frankfurt and Neuwied, Germany and Bologna, Italy. The evaluated bio-cellulose dressing1 was combined with polyhexamethylene biguanide for reduction of bacterial burden. The present study results were compared to published data on complex wounds, treated with traditional dressings and moist wound healing dressings, to calculate cost differences.ResultsFor the traditional dressings, cost calculations are based on 7.0 dressing changes/week. For moist wound healing dressings this was 3.0/week and for the bio-cellulose dressing 1.4/week. In comparison to the treatment with traditional dressings wound treatment costs with moist wound healing dressings were significantly lower. For calculation of a 3 months period, cost reduction for moist wound healing dressings was 49.4%, for bio-cellulose dressing1 + foam3 61.9% and 73.7% for bio-cellulose dressing1 + film.3ConclusionMoist wound healing dressings showed a cost reduction, compared to traditional dressings, with a larger cost reduction shown for bio-cellulose dressing.1 These findings are to be confirmed by randomized controlled studies.