Study Status: Not yet recruiting
Recruit Status: Not yet recruiting
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title:
Brief Summary:
In 2011, the premiers of all Canadian provinces and territories selected diabetes foot care as 1 of 3 significant targets for pan-provincial action. Of 210,000 people with diabetes in Alberta, 5,250 will seek treatment of a foot ulcer annually. In Alberta in 2014-15 there were 425 lower limb amputations (LLA). Moreover, there is a tremendous reduction in quality of life of the patients and attendant negative effects on their families. The 5-year mortality rate after new-onset diabetic foot ulcer is 43-55% and as high as 74% for patients undergoing LLA (CIHI, 2013). The Diabetes Foot Care Clinical Pathway Project (DFCCPP) aims to optimize methods of early detection and treatment of foot ulcers in an effort to reduce LLA by 50% by implementing High Risk Foot Teams (HRFTs) across the province starting with 3 Pilot sites. Existing staff with expertise and knowledge in diabetic foot care will assess and treat patients with moderate and high-risk findings.
In conjunction with the DFCCPP, the efficacy of a technological advancement developed by an Alberta-based small-to-medium enterprise (SME) to improve diabetic foot outcomes will be evaluated. Exsalt® SD7 Wound Dressings (Exciton Technologies, Edmonton, AB) have been demonstrated in-vitro and in-vivo to provide rapid and effective antibacterial activity in an easy-to-use format, thus creating an enhanced wound healing environment while supporting patient quality of life.
The objective of the proposed work is twofold, namely 1) to quantify clinical efficacy of exsalt® Wound Dressings on locally infected diabetic foot ulcers not progressing to healing under the current standard of care: evaluating key indicators of infection, Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) wound classification, and wound size; identifying benefits to foot ulcer healing and 2) to evaluate