Arif Abida, Humphreys Ioan, Jeffery Steven
Pioneer Wound Healing and Lymphoedema Centres, UK.
Swansea University School of Health and Social Care, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, Swansea University, UK.
J Wound Care. 2025 Aug 2;34(8):623-630. doi: 10.12968/jowc.2025.0056.
This study aimed to evaluate the rate at which Vulnamin (Professional Dietetics S.p.A., Italy), a combination of hyaluronic acid and amino acids, heals hard-to-heal venous leg ulcers (VLUs) by measuring percentage area reduction (PAR), wound bed condition, slough presence, infection, oedema, pain and general ulcer health. It also aimed to model the cost-effectiveness of the product as an adjunct when used alongside standard of care (SoC) of leg ulcers.
Patients with hard-to-heal VLUs were treated with the evaluated adjunct product for up to six weeks. Formulations were prescribed based on ulcer size, depth and levels of slough. Treatments involved both cream and powder formulations as adjunct to SoC. Wound size was measured and photographic evidence was documented throughout. The costing analysis was based on resource utilisation and clinical effectiveness data reported from the service evaluation. The total cost of the evaluated adjunct product over a four week period was calculated to be £813.39.
A total of 20 patients took part in the evaluation. Wound healing spanned 63 days, with an average size at baseline of 6.7cm. By day 7, the wound area had reduced to 5.36cm, by day 14 to 4.93cm, by day 21 to 4.42cm, and by day 35 to 3.4cm. The overall PAR reached 76.26% by day 63, showing consistent improvement. The cumulative costs associated with the evaluated adjunct product over four weeks were £2621.64, compared with the cumulative costs of SoC alone over four weeks of £1323.28. However, if the Vulnamin adjunct costs halt at four weeks, but the costs in the SoC group continue to accumulate, the cost at 111 days (16 weeks and 6 days) for a hard-to-heal wound would be £2622.93, compared to £2621.64 for the Vulnamin adjunct costs. This is the point that the healing cost of the evaluated adjunct product starts to become cost-saving to the UK's National Health Service.
In this study, Vulnamin showed promise in accelerating VLU healing. However, given the small sample size, and given the variability in ulcer characteristics and comorbidities, this underscores the need for further research with a larger, more diverse patient populations to confirm and extend these results. The analysis indicates positive cost-saving results based on the 20 patients within the study. Further research is needed to validate the potential of Vulnamin use in wound care.
本研究旨在通过测量面积缩小百分比（PAR）、伤口床状况、腐肉存在情况、感染、水肿、疼痛和溃疡整体健康状况，评估Vulnamin（意大利专业营养公司）——一种透明质酸和氨基酸的组合产品——治愈难愈合腿部静脉溃疡（VLU）的速率。本研究还旨在模拟该产品作为腿部溃疡标准护理（SoC）辅助手段时的成本效益。
难愈合VLU患者使用评估的辅助产品治疗长达六周。根据溃疡大小、深度和腐肉水平开出处方。治疗采用乳膏和粉剂配方作为SoC的辅助手段。在整个过程中测量伤口大小并记录照片证据。成本分析基于服务评估报告的资源利用和临床疗效数据。经计算，评估的辅助产品四周期间的总成本为813.39英镑。
共有20名患者参与评估。伤口愈合历时63天，基线时平均大小为6.7厘米。到第7天，伤口面积缩小至5.36厘米，到第14天至4.93厘米，到第21天至4.42厘米，到第35天至3.4厘米。到第63天，总体PAR达到76.26%，显示出持续改善。评估的辅助产品四周期间的累计成本为2621.64英镑，而SoC单独四周的累计成本为1323.28英镑。然而，如果Vulnamin辅助成本在四周时停止，但SoC组的成本继续累积，对于难愈合伤口，在111天（16周零6天）时的成本将为2622.93英镑，而Vulnamin辅助成本为2621.64英镑。这就是评估的辅助产品的愈合成本开始为英国国家医疗服务体系节省成本的点。
在本研究中，Vulnamin在加速VLU愈合方面显示出前景。然而，鉴于样本量小，且溃疡特征和合并症存在差异，这突出表明需要对更大、更多样化的患者群体进行进一步研究，以证实并扩展这些结果。分析表明，基于研究中的20名患者有积极的节省成本结果。需要进一步研究以验证Vulnamin在伤口护理中的应用潜力。
