| This book could be a useful tool for those health care staff
who may be unfamiliar with the materials available for application to
any specified
wound. It provides some insight into those products commonly used to
manage human wounds.
The inclusion of a skeletal veterinary section is to be welcomed as the
management of animal wounds is an area which is rapidly becoming more
significant, but its relevance to a publication specifically recommended
for health care staff is debatable. Perhaps the name of the publication
should be changed if this area of wound management is to be included
as a regular feature.
The materials are listed alphabetically by product name with short descriptions
of their composition and some indication is given to indicate the types
of wounds for which their use would be appropriate. The inclusion or
otherwise of the products in the Drug Tariff is also indicated. It is
unfortunate, however, that reference is made on several occasions throughout
the publication to “cotton wool”. This is a title which was
officially amended to absorbent cotton some time ago.
It would be useful if there was some cross-referencing between the product
descriptions and the later section entitled “The management of
wounds/wound types”. These two sections currently stand as separate
entities and some sort of link between them would improve and widen the
use of the booklet. There is little consistency between the descriptions
of the wound types — some are described in detail, eg, diabetic
ulcers, and others not at all, eg, epithelialising wounds. The care of
skin surrounding wounds is a whole area of expertise and the one line
entry (p132) dealing with it should be removed. This information is not
only superficial but could lead to a worsening of the wound being treated
if inappropriately applied by inexperienced practitioners.
The veterinary section is disappointing and needs significant amendment.
There is much emphasis on the healing process for both small animal and
equine wounds but little description of the rationale behind any products
selected to manage these wounds. In addition, some of the information
given within the small animal section is inaccurate or irrelevant, eg,
Opsite spray being described as an antiseptic, and the inclusion of garlic
juice (Dorwest herbs) when the rubric below the title then says there
are no data available for the use of garlic on wounds and that pure garlic
can cause skin burns. The Animalintex entry (p171) quotes “tragocanth” and
not “tragacanth” as a constituent. There are no products
described in the equine section, which is unfortunate, as there are numerous
publications which describe materials used for the management of equine
wounds. There are other references, whose inclusion would add a meaningful
dimension to this section.
In conclusion, there is much to like about this publication. It aims
to give easily accessible information in a practical way to those practitioners
managing wounds. It is just unfortunate that there are so many omissions
and deficiencies in this information that doubt is cast on the validity
of the rest.
Sarah Cockbill
|
The
Pharmaceutical Journal