[Influence of foam- and tubing material of the vacuum assisted closure device (v.a.C.) on the concentration of transforming growth factor Beta 1 in wound fluid].
OBJECTIVE
The Vacuum Assisted Closure device (V.A.C.) is commonly used for the treatment of problematic wounds. Furthermore, wound fluid can be easily collected with this device for research purposes. However, there is inadequate information as to whether the measurement of biomoieties of importance to wound healing is affected by the exposure of wound fluid to V.A.C. components, namely Polyurethane-foam and tubing. This study is an attempt to evaluate whether exposure of wound fluid to either V.A.C.-components affects concentrations of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-b1) in wound fluid.


METHODS
Wound fluid was gathered from five decubital ulcer patients using the foil-technique and was exposed to sterile pieces of the V.A.C. Polyurethane-foam, tubing material or nothing for zero, one or five hours. Saline served as control. The concentration of TGF-b1 was measured using sandwich-ELISA. The resulting data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA, Newman-Keuls and Bonferroni t-Test.


RESULTS
The concentration of TGF-b1 decreased significant in all three groups during the five hours of the experiment (p < 0.05). There was no significant decrease in TGF-b1 concentration at any time point in-between the groups.


CONCLUSIONS
From this study, we conclude that wound-fluid collected from the V.A.C.-device via the polyurethane-foam or tubing for purposes of analyzing concentrations of TGF-beta 1 should not be different from fluid collected using the foil technique.
Kall
S
S
Labor für Experimentelle Plastische Chirurgie, Klinik für Plastische, Hand- und Wiederherstellungschirurgie der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover. kall.susanne@mh-hannover.de
Kilpadi
D
D
Reimers
K
K
Choi
C Y
CY
Jahn
S
S
Vogt
P M
PM
D003646:Debridement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004867:Equipment Design; D005122:Exudates and Transudates / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008838:Microcomputers; D009779:Occlusive Dressings; D011140:Polyurethanes; D003668:Pressure Ulcer / Q000601:surgery*; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation; D013536:Suture Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014618:Vacuum; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*
D011140:Polyurethanes; C508960:TGFB1 protein, human; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; C028279:polyurethane foam