Assessment of the effect of an aliamide-containing topical gel by evaluation of the reduction of wound volume measured by high resolution ultrasound biomicroscopy

This study evaluated the use of an aliamide-containing gel in the treatment of skin wounds by employing noninvasive wound volume measurements acquired from wound images of high resolution ultrasonography (HRU). The dorsal thoracolumbar areas of 10 Beagle dogs were clipped and 2 rows of 6 full-thickness 5-mm punch biopsy samples were taken from either side of the midline under general anaesthesia. Wounds were allowed to heal by secondary intention, while treatment gel or base was applied 3 times daily to randomly selected treatment and control groups. Concentric 8-mm punch biopsy samples of the healing wounds were taken on Days 1, 2, 4, 8, and 14 for histopathological assessment. Wounds were imaged with 20 MHz HRU daily over a period of 28 days. Wound volume was calculated using scanner software based on the disk summation method. The wound volume was calculated in longitudinal and transverse ultrasound images and the average of the 2 values was used as the final wound volume. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to assess whether wound volume differed significantly over time, and between control and treated animals. Mean wound volume decreased significantly during the 28-day experimental period, and there was a significant time-treatment interaction indicating that the treatment effect varied at different stages during the healing process. Overall, application of the aliamide-containing gel appears to improve wound healing over time. © 2007 HMP Communications. All Rights Reserved.