Natural fish skin suitable for healing chronic wounds?

Heal chronic wounds with fish skin

For minor injuries, it is often sufficient to stick a plaster on the wound. However, chronic wounds can not be treated in such a simple way. In such cases, a transplant of fish skin may help in the future. First tests have been promising.

Home remedies for the treatment of simple wounds

After minor injuries one often gets the advice to try it with salt, because salt water accelerates wound healing. Others recommend treating wounds with fresh garlic. And for superficial, slightly oozing and less bleeding wounds, zinc can help to heal better. In chronic wounds, however, such home remedies usually bring nothing more. A graft made of fish skin could possibly help, with which researchers have now achieved promising results.

In small wounds usually a patch is sufficient. With chronic wounds you do not get very far. In such cases, a transplant of fish skin may help in the future. (Image: leszekglasner / fotolia.com)

Treatment requires a therapy of the underlying disease

Some wounds are considered chronic from the beginning because their treatment requires treatment of the underlying disease.

These include diabetic foot syndrome, wounds in peripheral arterial disease (PAOD) or a so-called "open leg" (ulcus cruris venosum) due to chronic venous insufficiency.

But even an acute wound after surgery or an accident can develop into a chronic wound with an often creeping, lengthy course.

"We all know the principle of wound healing," explains the Director of the Heart and Diabetes Center (HDZ) of North Rhine-Westphalia, Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Diethelm Tschöpe, in a message.

"Only a wound that closes can heal."

If wounds do not close over weeks and months

Unfortunately, there are wounds in which the healing process is so disturbed that they do not close for weeks and months.

The Heart and Diabetes Center NRW reported on such a case: The 81-year-old Manfred Voigt had a problem with an injury that occurred at the foot between the toes. At first it was just annoying.

However, the longer it took, the more the open wound affected his quality of life. "Every two days the bandage had to be changed, for months there was no improvement."

Very often, diabetes is the cause of impaired wound healing. Due to sensory disorders (polyneuropathy) wounds are sometimes noticed too late and become infected.

"The longer the wound healing process delays, the bigger the problem becomes," describe the senior physicians. Tania-Cristina Costea and dr. Katharina Kuczewski the typical course.

Diabetic foot syndrome can result in amputations

The wound healing center of the Diabetes Center at the HDZ NRW, Bad Oeynhausen, among other things, also investigates the biochemical changes that have chronic wounds and impair healing cell activity in the connective tissue.

In diabetic foot syndrome, this can lead to the amputation of individual toes, the forefoot or the joint.

"Although the number of large amputations is decreasing, the number of minor amputations has increased," explains Prof. Tschöpe. The more time passes, the greater the risk of infection that threatens amputation.

Anyone who suffers an open wound for more than three months should get into the hands of experts.

Preferably, such facilities that are certified as an outpatient or inpatient wound healing center help. Manfred Voigt did that only after a year. And was very pleased that already after four weeks a solution was found.

Fish skin graft has an antibacterial effect

He has been helped by a new therapy with a graft, which is obtained from fish skin and obviously stimulates the skin cells to grow again.

The cell-free collagen matrix looks a bit like a crispbread, it is placed overlapping on the cleaned wound and fixed with a bandage.

Both early research findings and clinical experience indicate that this type of cell migration and proliferation may be superior to other forms of therapy.

The Scandinavian product comes from the native Atlantic cod. The material is similar to the human skin with pores and antibacterial.

These features, as well as omega-3 fatty acids, seem to promote stem cell proliferation and wound healing.

"Further study results have to be awaited," emphasizes Professor Tschöpe, who has so far recorded successful wound closure in all patients treated at the diabetes center, while not ignoring the fact that an individual assessment of the wound is the alpha and omega of the therapy.

Effects visible after seven days

Which type of treatment is most appropriate depends on the type and depth of the wound, on the possible underlying disease of the patient, but also on the location of the injury.

"On the Achilles tendon it is much more difficult to set up a tissue bridge compared to the ball of the foot or foot because there is virtually no connective tissue."

The ultimate goals of modern wound healing methods are wound closure and limb preservation. There are great advantages in their repeated application, also a combination of different methods is possible depending on the individual wound situation.

"First effects of wound healing are usually evident after seven days, when the edges of the wound begin to close."

Quiet and a vacuum bandage often help

In many cases, a lot of rest and a properly applied vacuum bandage help to stimulate the blood circulation and relieve the wound. Dead tissue can be cleared with a madness therapy, existing stem cells stimulated.

In venous wounds, cold plasma treatment has been shown to be effective. For Manfred Voigt, the tedious story with his foot has finally come to a happy end after almost a year: "Next time I'll go straight to the specialist!"

Other experts have come a long way in the treatment of wounds in recent years. For example, Austrian researchers have discovered a biological agent for better healing of skin wounds.

And scientists from Leipzig and Dresden reported a few months ago on a newly designed hydrogel, which also contributes to better wound healing. (Ad)