A Gel Made With Your Own Blood Could Heal Chronic Leg Wounds [STUDY]

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A gel made from a patient's own blood mixed with vitamin C could help chronic wounds heal faster. The mixture is reported to ignite the repair mechanisms and aid a rapid healing process.

A preliminary study at Barts Health NHS Trust, in London found that nine of ten wounds that had not healed for almost a year responded to the treatment. The findings were published in the British Journal of Surgery.

However, 66 diabetic patients with foot ulcers are now taking part in an NHS trial to test the efficacy of the gel. A considerable proportion of chronic wounds treated by the NHS each year are diabetic foot ulcers (open wounds on the foot as a result of diabetes), according to Mail Online.

Diabetic foot ulcers are worsened by factors such as diabetic neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease, cigarette smoking, poor glycemic controls, previous foot ulcerations and amputations and ischemia of small and large blood vessels.

Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is a damage affecting nerves which may impair sensation, movement, gland or organ function. It causes loss of pain or feeling in the toes, feet, legs and arms due to distal nerve damage and reduced blood flow.

This can cause substantial damage to blood vessels, thus oxygen-rich blood and immune cells needed for healing are not delivered. PN also make injuries to go unnoticed which may eventually worsen and become gangrenous.

Previous studies conducted on the topic has shown that almost 40 percent of diabetic ulcers take at least three months to heal and 14 percent of cases last more than a year. Up to 5,000 diabetic patients need to have a leg amputation due to foot complications every year in the United Kingdom.

The gel contains platelet-rich plasma (PRP) - a concentration that plays a role in healing. It involves taking a sample of a patient's blood and spinning it in a centrifuge to separate plasma from proteins known as thrombin, which helps activate the platelets and boosts tissue regeneration.

It also contains red blood cells, white blood cells and platelet. Vitamin C is then added to create the gel. The procedure is usually carried out beside a patient's bed.

Vitamin C is said to be a major ingredient in the gel as it involves the production of collagen - a protein that helps rebuild lost tissue and heal wounds. The gel is then placed directly on the wound and wrapped in the standard dressing method used in treating diabetic foot ulcers.

 "Massively amplifying the healing response for patients trapped in a non-healing phase was associated with rapid wound closure," lead researcher and a consultant vascular surgeon, Sandip Sarkar said, according to Press Reader.

Spinning the blood leaves the plasma and the platelet but in a higher concentration. The PRP is sometimes used to treat tendon injuries and also used in some cosmetics procedure, claiming that injecting in the face can rejuvenate the skin. Wounds treated with a person's own blood could reduce the risk of allergic reactions.

In addition, a hand-held device which measures oxygen levels in the skin could help doctors know which patients are at risk of wound complications, according to researchers at Loyola University Chicago.

It was found in a preliminary study on patients who underwent cancer surgery that low levels oxygen close to the wound increased the risk complications, and higher levels oxygen suggest the skin will heal without difficulty. These findings could change the way operations are scheduled.

A gel that revives the hopes in patients who had already given up on their wound ever healing is truly amazing.