Background “Jinchuang ointment” is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine for external incised wounds. This herbal medicine has been successfully used to treat patients with diabetic foot ulcers and pressure sores in Taiwan for several decades. We previously examined its biological activities on cell-based in vitro assay platforms. Because some patients refused to use animal-derived ingredients ointment during our clinical practice, the efficacy of plant oil-based reconstituted “Jinchuang ointment” was also investigated. Methods A porcine excisional wound model was established and used to evaluate its efficacy in vivo in this study. Besides, an unusual clinical case is also present. Results As judged from the wound appearance of animal studies on day 14 and the results of blood flow flux at the wound sites on day 28, “Jinchuang ointment” accelerated wound closure significantly better than the control group. Conclusions The results from clinical treatment, histopathological evaluation, and the animal study showed that “Jinchung ointment” promotes wound healing significantly better than the control group. Also, sesame oil-reconstituted ointment can be a choice for patients who refuse to use lard-containing ointment.

“San Huang Powder,” a nonsterile milled herb powder, is frequently used to treat burn wounds in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. However, treating a wound with a nonsterile dressing or reagent is not compatible with the current guidelines in modern medicine. Therefore, we investigated the bactericidal and anti-inflammatory activities of four herb extracts used in “San Huang Powder” in vitro. Meanwhile, an in vivo porcine model with superficial second-degree burns was used for the experiments since the size and skin composition of pigs are the closest to that of the human body. The minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) of the herb extracts was determined. The in vitro assay indicated that Rhubarb and Phellodendron bark extracts decreased the levels of inflammatory cytokines, IL-8, and GM-CSF on LPS-induced HMEC-1 cells. In accordance with this result, the histopathological evaluation results showed that the efficacy of “San Huang Powder” containing both herb materials was much better than the group without Rhubarb. Our results not only provide a basis to understand why “San Huang Powder” has been used to clinically treat wounds without sterilization directly since ancient times but also show the advantages of using multiple herb materials simultaneously on wound sites to prevent infection during treatment. Rhubarb is the recommended ingredient involved in the preparation of “San Huang Powder” to ensure the healing efficacy of burn wounds.

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Background Elderly population has increased in worldwide and quality of life (QOL) become an crucial indicator to improve elders’ life. Pain perception as an important factor of QOL, but the impact on elderly population remains unclear. Methods This study aims to investigate the quality of life and pain perception of the elderly population at Tribal community based on care center in Hualien (Taiwan). This study involved a cross-sectional investigation and used Pain Verbal Rating Scale and WHO QOL-BREF Taiwan Edition survey pain perception and QOL according to the the questionnaire. ANOVA, Independent Sample t test and Chi-square test were used to investigate the differences between demographic variables and the QOL. Further, the correlation between pain perception and the QOL were assessed using Multiple Regression analysis. Results Subjects average age were 70.85 years old. Females, literate, no spouse or co-habitant and those who did not feel a good sleep quality were the majority. Most of the subjects reported mild pain in the previous months, and the average overall QOL score was 56.56 that suggested a moderate QOL for subject’s. There was a significant difference between pain perception and race; the overall QOL significantly varied depending on race, marital status, sleep quality and pain perception. The overall QOL regression model was correlated to race, marital status, pain perception and sleep quality, that explained the 15% explanatory variable of overall QOL. This study implicated that there exists significant differences in pain perception and QOL amongst dissimliar races and ethnicity. Ethnic groups represented as one of the confounding factors that modulated pain perception and QOL amongst elderly population. Besides, marital status, pain perception, sleep quality were significantly attributed to QOL. Conclusion Based on our findings, we suggest that different care measures based on above influencing factors should be considered to improve the QOL for elderly individuals.