Case Studies
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CASE STUDIES Using innovative Accel-Heal electrical stimulation therapy in the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds accelheal.com 2 3 Despite therapy advances in The majority of patients require dressing Accel-Heal is an innovative A single use, small, portable device that can HARD-TO-HEAL wound management over the last changes at least twice a week and HOW ACCEL-HEAL electrical stimulation therapy for be discreetly tucked away and can easily be WOUNDS CONTINUE 30 years, hard-to-heal wounds are more than a third require daily dressing ADDRESSES THESE hard-to-heal wounds which relieves managed by patients in their own homes. an increasing problem. changes, putting pressure on health pain and stimulates healing. TO BE A MAJOR care practitioner caseloads. [3] PROBLEMS There is no complicated set up and therapy The total cost of leg ulcers in the UK Accel-Heal has been designed to provide is started with the simple push of a button. BURDEN has been estimated to be around Hard-to-heal wounds can be extremely advanced therapy in a simple format that The therapy is subsensory and safe to use.[7] £1.9bn each year. [1] painful - between 50% and 60% of patients can be used to complement standard with chronic wounds experience persistent wound care. The annual cost of managing an unhealed wound pain. [4, 5] venous leg ulcer (VLU) is 4.5 times more than that of managing a healed one. [2] Pain influences many aspects of wound therapy. One major issue is that pain can make some gold standard therapies such as compression unbearable; this can lead to reduced compliance and worse outcomes. Wound pain can also severely impact patients’ quality of life. HOW ACCEL-HEAL IMPROVES OUTCOMES Electrical stimulation has the potential The European Wound Management RELIEVES STIMULATES IMPROVES PATIENT WHAT IS ELECTRICAL to alleviate these problems. It is a proven Association (EWMA) has also therapy method for wound management acknowledged that electrical stimulation WOUND PAIN HEALING QUALITY OF LIFE STIMULATION [13][7] [13–15] [14–16] which has been used by specialists and is effective in treating a wide range of researchers for many years. wound types including venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers It is one of the most evidence-based and mixed ulcers. [9] wound management technologies available, reported in at least 30 Electrical stimulation is proven to improve randomised controlled trials.[6, 7] healing [6,9] whilst reducing pain [10, 11] and Its use has been recommended by the inflammation [12]. Specific subsensory European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel stimulation from devices such as to treat stage 2 to 4 pressure ulcers. [8] Accel-Heal® is safe to use. [9] SAFE COST [7] EFFECTIVE However, electrical stimulation [7] has not been widely adopted into everyday practice. Many established, hospital-based devices are complicated for healthcare practitioners to use. Patients are inconvenienced by the need to visit the hospital for therapy During Accel-Heal therapy patients can continues long after the therapy period has and would rather be treated at home. [9] THE EVIDENCE expect to find that pain is relieved and the been completed, putting them on the road normal healing process is stimulated and to recovery. 83% >80% 12DAYS 20WKS 83 per cent reduction in pain Over 80 per cent of non-healing during 12-day therapy [13] wounds healed in 20 weeks [13–15] accelheal.com accelheal.com 4 5 Better quality of life Accel-Heal can also be used to Accel-Heal works by delivering a preset, Chronic wounds are believed to lack this HOW ACCEL-HEAL manage patient pain in order to allow HOW ACCEL-HEAL automated programme of subsensory electrical charge - applying electrical Patients have reported marked investigations such as blood flow testing electrical pulses to the wound that stimulation is believed to replicate this BENEFITS PATIENTS WORKS [10] pain relief following therapy with or other therapies such as debridement automatically adjusts itself to different natural stimulation, promoting healing. Accel-Heal [7,13] with some patients to be carried out which the patient might patients to deliver effective therapy from Accel-Heal relieves pain and stimulates reporting rapid improvement within not otherwise be able to tolerate. [17] the moment it is switched on. A normal healing by directly affecting cell behaviour hours of commencing therapy. [17] wound usually has a small, naturally in and around the wound bed. Being entrusted with their occurring electric charge across it. These cellular changes suggest that This has enabled patients to reduce, Accel-Heal device promotes a sense of This charge normally orchestrates the Accel-Heal may dampendown the or come off pain relieving medication self-sufficiency and control in patients complicated wound healing process by inflammatory environment that is present completely [18, 19] and even return and may help to prepare them for their instructing cells in the wound bed to go in complex wounds. Case studies have [24] to work.[19] future self-care with, for example, into ‘healing mode’. reported a visually apparent reduction in [21] wound inflammation in as little as 7-days compression stockings. [14] Patients were also able to return after applying the Accel-Heal device. to normal social activities thanks Better movement and exercise to experiencing less pain and increased mobility.[14, 18] Improved blood flow, stimulated by movement, can improve the chances Better compliance to gold of wound healing - as wound pain can standard compression worsen during movement, this can be very difficult for patients. Patients treated with Accel-Heal were able to tolerate full strength Patients treated with Accel-Heal HOW ACCEL-HEAL compression as a direct result of noted huge differences in their ability to its pain relieving benefits. [19, 20] move about freely compared with the IMPROVES OUTCOMES restrictions they had experienced before therapy, making it easier to exercise. [14, 18] Accel-Heal reduces the overall cost of ACCEL-HEAL IS hard-to-heal wound therapy by: Patients with a hard-to-heal Patients who are frustrated Patients whose wound pain wound that is not progressing by the reduced mobility causes them to be non-compliant COST SAVING to healing caused by their pain to therapy £936 1/3 34% 11% REDUCING THE PER REDUCING THE REDUCING THE REDUCING THE COST PATIENT COST OF COSTS OF DRESSING NUMBER OF OF THERAPY OF MANAGING A VLU BY CHANGES BY UP NURSING VISITS VENOUS LEG ULCERS UP TO £936 TO A THIRD NEEDED PER PATIENT TO THE NHS [27] [22] PER YEAR BY 17, A BY 11%[23] 34% REDUCTION [23] accelheal.com accelheal.com 6 7 Accel-Heal was started in December Three days after starting Accel-Heal CASE STUDY ONE REDUCING PAIN, DURING 2016 - the aim was to relieve the pain therapy, the patient returned to clinic for a ALLOWING COMPRESSION THERAPY sufficiently to measure ABPI and to scheduled dressing change. Her pain score enable the patient to wear graduated was much reduced to 3/10. She reported THERAPY high compression bandaging. At the sleeping better and was now able to beginning of therapy, the wound tolerate dressing changes. measured approximately 7.5cm2. The pain continued to improve Along-side Accel-Heal, the wound was during therapy. The wound itself also dressed with a topical honey dressing significantly improved with a reduction in A patient with a venous leg ulcer could not Therapy with Accel-Heal rapidly and highly absorbent secondary dressing wound size and exudate. At the end of the SUMMARY tolerate any compression therapy because relieved the pain, allowing graduated and a support bandage. The peri-wound 12-day therapy the pain was minimal of pain scoring 10/10. compression therapy to be started. skin was protected with barrier cream. and only small dry scabs remained. The wound healed three weeks after During dressing changes the wound was starting Accel-Heal therapy. irrigated with anti-microbial irrigation fluid. A 50-year-old patient with a history The wound pain caused her to cry with At the end of the 12-day Accel-Heal The patient was so grateful for the BEFORE of recurring venous leg ulcers despite the discomfort, particularly during dressing AFTER therapy, graduated short stretch ‘wonderful result’ and in particular she wearing compression hosiery, presented changes. Various topical cleansers, honey compression bandaging was applied. expressed the delight in achieving a with a very painful ulcer of three-weeks and absorbent dressings with support The aim was to continue short stretch ‘normal and pain free Christmas’, ACCEL-HEAL duration. The patient had previously bandages had been applied. She had ACCEL-HEAL bandaging until good tensile strength which she had been very worried about. suffered from fracture of the right ankle. also had several courses of antibiotics. was obtained in the wound and then She was surprised by the speed of Limb assessment confirmed advanced to measure for compression hosiery recovery and more importantly the venous disease. The patient’s wound was Although graduated compression to prevent recurrence. The wound was reduction in pain being so significant excruciatingly painful with a pain score therapy was considered, the patient completely healed, and the patient was within a few days of therapy. of 10/10 despite taking co-codamol could not tolerate the therapy because discharged with compression hosiery in and pregabalin. of the wound pain. She also could not February, around two months after tolerate the assessment of ankle-brachial Accel-Heal therapy. pressure index (ABPI), although all foot pulses were audible with tri-phasic and bi-phasic sounds. 10 9 8 7 6 5 Figure 1. Wound to right medial malleolus on 15/12/16 Figure 2. Wound to right medial malleolus on 15/12/16 4 3 Pain score (out of 10) score Pain 2 1 PAIN SCORE REDUCED TO 0 1/10 AFTER FROM 10/10 0 3 6 9 12 3 DAYS Day of treatment with Accel-Heal Figure 3.