In the US alone over 3.5 million people suffer from chronic venous insufficiency and venous leg ulcers. The cost of current treatments that are normally based on antibiotics and wound dressings with saline is estimated to cost over 2 billion USD per year with an average treatment time of 190 days.
The use of stable and clear Hypochlorous Acid (HOCI) in products like Wound Clear, 100ml mist spray X 2 manufactured by the UK based company Liquid Medical Ltd has shown impressive results in clinical tests with a reduction in treatment time to an average of only 29 days.
This means that not only can the cost of treatments be significantly reduced, the treatment itself has less side effects for the patient and is easier to administrate with most patients being able to self administrate the treatment from home or with little help.
So why are products like Wound Clear containing HOCI so effective? The skin around an ulcer is often inflamed or scaly. This reduces or prevents the wound from healing effectively. Hypochlorous Acid, as scary as the name might sound, is not the normal type of acid most people think of when they hear the name. HOCI is actually formed by the body’s own immune system to fight of infections and inflammations. As it’s already a part of the immune system, it has no adverse effect on the body’s own good bacteria that we need; it only targets the bad bacteria. It has shown great efficiency in clinical tests with excellent wound healing capabilities.
In the clinical tests conducted on venous leg ulcers with Hypochlorous Acid the healing time was measured after the size and depth of the wound as one factor and the following results where concluded:
26 patients had VLU dimension of <5 cm2 and a depth of less than 1cm. This group of patients saw a healing time of 2 to 5 days.
131 patients had VLU dimensions of 6cm2 and a depth of less than 1cm. In this group the healing time was 2-7 days.
122 patients started with a wound size of 7-20 cm2 and a depth ranging from 1-3 cm. Here the healing time of the wound varied between 9-27 days.
The by far largest group of patients in the clinical test was that of 454 patients with VLU dimensions of 21-30 cm2 and a depth of the wound ranging from 2-4 cm. In this group the healing time was recorded as between 9-31 days.
A group of 101 patients had larger and deeper wounds where the size ranged from 21-40 cm2 and the depth varied from 5-10 cm, in this group healing times seen varied from 14-40 days.
The last group where does with very large and deep wounds, this group of 63 patients had wound openings larger than 40 cm2 and depth of the wound ranging from 1-10 cm. The healing time for this group varied between 21-180 days.
Other factors that delayed healing times across the group where noted to be active smokers, users of steroids, use of street drugs and morbid obesity. Patients with this saw a longer healing time across all groups.