Non‐Uremic Calciphylaxis (NUC) is a rare condition that often manifests as intractable and painful integumentary wounds, afflicting patients with a high burden of co‐morbidity. The Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is a ubiquitous signalling system that is theorised to be dysregulated within wound beds and associated peri‐wound tissues. Preclinical research has shown that the dominant chemical classes derived from the cannabis plant, cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids, interact with the integumentary ECS to promote wound closure and analgesia. This is a prospective open label cohort study involving two elderly Caucasian females with recalcitrant NUC leg ulcers of greater than 6 months duration. Topical Cannabis‐Based Medicines (TCBM) composed of cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids were applied daily to both the wound bed and peri‐wound tissues until complete wound closure was achieved. Wounds were photographed regularly, and the digital images were subjected to planimetric analysis to objectively quantify the degree of granulation and epithelization. Analgesic utilisation, as a surrogate/proxy for pain scores, was also tracked. The cohort had a mean M3 multimorbidity index score of 3.31. Complete wound closure was achieved in a mean of 76.3 days. Additionally, no analgesics were required after a mean of 63 days. The treatments were well tolerated with no adverse reactions. The positive results demonstrated in very challenging wounds such as NUC, among highly complex patients, suggest that TCBM may have an even broader role within integumentary and wound management. This treatment paradigm warrants being trialled in other wound types and classes, and ultimately should be subjected to randomised controlled trials.
Venous leg ulcers are highly prevalent lower limb integumentary wounds that remain challenging to heal despite the use of evidence-based compression therapies. A multitude of adjuvant treatments has been studied but none have demonstrated enough efficacy to gain adoption into treatment guidelines. Global attention on Cannabis-Based Therapies is increasing and has been driven by quantum scientific advancements in the understanding of the endocannabinoid signalling system. Topical Cannabis-Based Medicines represent a novel treatment paradigm for venous leg ulcers in terms of promoting wound closure. Fourteen complex patients with sixteen recalcitrant leg ulcers were treated with Topical Cannabis-Based Medicines in conjunction with compression bandaging, every second day, to both wound bed and peri-wound tissues.The cohort had a mean age of 75.8 years and was medically complex as reflected by a mean M3 multimorbidity index score of 2.94 and a mean Palliative Performance Scale score of 67.1%. Complete wound closure, defined as being fully epithelialized, was achieved among 11 patients (79%) and 13 wounds (81%) within a median of 34 days.All three remaining patients demonstrated progressive healing trends but were lost to follow-up. The treatments were well tolerated, and no significant adverse reactions were experienced. The rapid wound closure of previously non-healing venous leg ulcers among elderly and highly complex patients suggests that Topical Cannabis-Based Medicines may become effective adjuvants in conjunction with compression therapy. This may also indicate that they may have an even broader role within integumentary and wound management. Therefore, this treatment paradigm warrants being subjected to controlled trials.
Calciphylaxis is a rare vasculopathy that mostly occurs in the chronic renal failure population. 1,2 Most commonly referred to as Uremic Calciphylaxis (UC), it may also be dubbed Calcific Uremic Arteriolopathy. 1,2 UC is a vexing, enigmatic, and often lethal complication afflicting patients with chronic renal failure. 1,2 UC occurs in about 1% in individuals with chronic renal failure. Integumentary lesions caused
Automated tracking of wound‐healing progress using images from smartphones can be useful and convenient for the patient to perform at home. To evaluate the feasibility, 119 images were taken with an iPhone smartphone during the treatment of a chronic wound at one patient's home. An image analysis algorithm was developed to quantitatively classify wound content as an index of wound healing. The core of the algorithm involves transforming the colour image into hue‐saturation‐value colour space, after which a threshold can be reliably applied to produce segmentation using the Black‐Yellow‐Red wound model. Morphological transforms are used to refine the classification. This method was found to be accurate and robust with respect to lighting conditions for smartphone‐captured photos. The wound composition percentage showed a different trend from the wound area measurements, suggesting its role as a complementary metric. Overall, smartphone photography and automated image analysis is a promising cost‐effective way of monitoring patients. While the current setup limits our capability of measuring wound area, future smartphones equipped with depth‐sensing technology will enable accurate volumetric evaluation in addition to composition analysis.
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