This 83-year-old male patient had
a complicated medical history
including registered blindness,
poor hearing and a propensity to
falls. He was also hypertensive and
smoked up to 10 cigarettes a day. He
was seen by the author as he had
developed an ischaemic foot ulcer
to the side of his right metatarsal
phalangeal joint, which had been
present since December, 2013.
The author noted that there was
a lack of healing from the base
of the wound bed, where a callus
had formed over the ulcer — pus
would also exude from the wound
whenever it was debrided.
The patient had already been seen
by vascular surgeons, who had
indicated that the risks of surgery
outweighed any potential gains,
mainly due to the patient’s age
and smoking history. A number of
treatments had been tried in an
effort to heal the wound, including
combinations of Iodoflex
®
(Smith
& Nephew) and Activheal Foam;
Aquacel Ag and Activheal Foam;
and Inadine
®
(Systagenix) and
Activheal Foam.
Starting on Granulox
®
The team decided to start treatment
with Granulox on 3 April, 2014,
partly due to the fact that other
products had not progressed healing
and the theory that Granulox
might improve the transportation
of oxygen to ischaemic areas of the
wound bed. At this time, the wound
measured 2x2cm and was stagnant
with no improvement since
January 2014.
In the coming weeks, the patient
reported that the pain from the
wound lessened; similarly, the author
recorded that there was a reduction
in volume of exudate and that the
wound had started to granulate.
The wound achieved complete
closure on 15 May, 2014 after
six weeks and 12 applications of
Granulox. There was no longer a
cavity in the skin, or any pus being
produced, and, despite some callus
formation, there was no scar
tissue present.
Case report
2
Granulox
®
haemoglobin spray
Figure 2.
On 2 May, 2014 the surrounding callus
has been reduced and there was also a
reduction in wound depth.
Figure 3.
The wound on 29 June, 2014, two weeks
after wound closure had been achieved.
Figure 1.
The wound on 10 April, 2014, one week
after starting treatment with Granulox
and following debridement.
3
Six weeks of treatment with Granulox
resulted in healing of a chronic
ischaemic wound that had been present
for over a year. The use of Granulox
also reduced the pain that the patient
was experiencing and the volume of
exudate being produced.
