Clive Marsh

Keratin-based products for effective wound care management in superficial and partial thickness burns injuries

This n=40 cohort study on superficial and partial thickness burns compares novel keratin-based products with the standard products used at our facility. The keratin products are found to facilitate healing with minimal scarring, be well tolerated with minimal pain and itch, be easy to use for the health professional and be cost effective for the health care provider. For these reasons they are being adopted into use at our facility.

Use of a keratin-based hydrogel in the management of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa

Abstract A new keratin-based hydrogel wound dressing was applied to the neck of a patient who was suffering from recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa. A significant improvement was observed in the robustness of skin in this area: reduced propensity to blister and improved healing of blisters. The improvement allowed the cessation of use of secondary dressings for this area. The factors gave a significant improvement in quality of life for the patient.

Keratin gel improves poor scarring following median sternotomy

Linear hypertrophic scarring is a common surgical problem that can be difficult to manage. This article evaluates median sternotomy wounds that have often been reported to scar poorly resulting in hypertrophic scar formation.

The use of keratin-based wound products on refractory wounds

Keratin proteins have been shown to play a key role in wound healing. Controlled keratin gene (KRT) expression promotes cell growth, migration and differentiation, and as an example of the importance of keratin proteins, absence of KRT17 has been shown to delay wound closure. In addition, downregulation of KRT6 and KRT16 in non‐healing chronic venous ulcers suggests that deregulation of keratin expression contributes to non‐healing phenotype. A sample of 45 chronic wounds of mixed aetiologies presenting in 31 patients were treated with keratin‐based novel topical wound healing products. Thirty‐seven wounds or 82% of wounds were either healed or reduced in size of >50% during treatment, with 29 (64%) healing completely and an additional 8 wounds experiencing 50% wound size reduction or greater. Of the wounds that responded, 15 required antimicrobial treatment during their course of treatment, suggesting that keratin dressing treatment should be interrupted briefly and then restarted when wound infection occur.