Calcium alginate dressings facilitate the management of highly exudating
wounds such as
venous ulcers. To evaluate and compare the performance of two
calcium alginate dressings in the management of
venous ulcers, a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical study was conducted among 19 outpatients at two
wound clinics in California. Ten patients (53%) were treated with
Alginate A and nine patients (47%) with
Alginate B. Dressings were changed weekly and patients were followed for a maximum of 6 weeks or until the
venous ulcer no longer required the use of an
alginate dressing. At each dressing change, the
wound was assessed and dressing performance evaluated. Absorbency of exudate, patient comfort during wear, ease of removal, adherence to
wound bed, dressing residue following initial irrigation, patient comfort during removal, ease of application, and conformability were assessed. Patients using
Alginate A experienced significantly less foul odor (P = 0.02) and less denuded skin (P = 0.04) than
Alginate B at follow-up
wound assessments. With the exception of conformability,
Alginate A was rated significantly better than
Alginate B (P less than or equal to 0.05) in all dressing performance assessments. No significant healing differences were observed. As the different performance characteristics of various
calcium alginate dressings become more obvious in clinical practice, further study is warranted to determine their optimal effectiveness.