Blue Light Photobiomodulation on skin lesions in elderly people

INTRODUCTION

Out of 100 skin lesions in elderly people, about 55 are Pressure Ulcers (PU)  and 45 are Incontinence Associated Dermatitis (IAD), with an average overall prevalence of 1.8% over the population in Italy. Pressure ulcer is a skin lesion that originates from prolonged compression of soft tissues at bone emergencies and typically affects people who are bedridden, who use a wheelchair or are unable to change position. The IAD describes the skin damage that follows frequent and/ or prolonged exposure to urine and/ or stool that involve an excess of hydration and an increase in the pH of the skin resulting in disruption of the barrier function of the same. The most common complication of IAD is mycotic colonization.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE STUDY

AIM

To evaluate the effectiveness of Blue Light Photobiomodulation on skin lesions in elderly people.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

• Inclusion criteria: age over 65, cleansed and/or critically colonized lesions (according to Cutting & Harding criteria), Wound Bed Preparation¹ (WBP) score A-B; exclusion criteria: patients with ischemic and/or infected lesions, neoplastic wounds, WBP C-D, terminal patients or treated with immunosuppressants.
• Treatment with Blue Light (EmoLED) was 2 minutes over all the lesion’s area, twice a week for 10 weeks or less if the patients’ wound healed during the 10 weeks.
• For all patients the same primary dressing was used: stable ozonides for PU and ionic silver spray powder for IAD.
• Wound area and depth reduction, reduction of sign of infection if present and possible side effects were assessed. Wound area reduction was evaluated weekly using the the Visitrak™ System.

RESULTS

• 10 patients with pressure injuries and 5 patients with IAD were enrolled.
• The mean Wound Area Reduction of the PU was 75.8% (3 patients healed within the observation time); the mean wound depth reduction was 74.8%.
• All patients with IAD achieved healing within the observation time; 3 patients healed in 21 days and 1 in one week with a mean healing time of 17.5 days, to be compared to 90 days, the mean healing time for IAD treated with ionic silver spray powder only (based on authors’ experience). It was observed that Blue Light resolves mycotic colonization where present.
• No adverse events, no allergies, no induced pain were registered.

CONCLUSIONS

According to the authors Blue Light Photobiomodulation has shown promising results in the treatment of pressure ulcers and IADs as all patients achieved significant improvement or complete healing.

1. Falanga V. Classifications for wound bed preparation and stimulation of chronic wounds. Wound Repair Regen. 2000 Sep-Oct;8(5):347-52. PMID: 11115147.