Editor’s note: “MIST Therapy^® System: Thoughts on Therapy” is brought to you by an educational grant from Celleration^®, Inc. The opinions and statements herein are specific to the author and not necessarily those of Celleration, Inc., ECPN, or HMP Communications, LLC.

Case Series #2

       In 2006, the Physical Therapy Wound Management Department at Clarian Health-Methodist Hospital (Indianapolis, Ind) conducted a prospective case series study to determine the clinical effectiveness of the MIST Therapy^® System (Celleration^®, Inc.) in the treatment of outpatients with complicated wounds. The study was self-funded; Celleration did not provide a grant for it or this article.
       The MIST Therapy System is a noncontact, therapeutic ultrasound device cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to promote wound healing through cleansing and maintenance debridement. It delivers low-frequency, low-intensity ultrasound waves through a sterile saline mist to remove the yellow slough, fibrin, tissue exudate, and bacteria that characterize complex wounds. Because the device never touches the wound, treatment is pain-free.
       To determine treatment effectiveness across a wide range of complicated wounds, 6 outpatients were nonrandomly selected on the basis of wound etiology and associated comorbidities. All patients provided written, informed consent. The number, frequency, and duration of MIST treatments were determined for each patient depending on wound size. MIST Therapy effectiveness was determined through pre- to post-therapy changes in wound dimension, amount of drainage, percentage of granulated or reepithelialized wound tissue, and wound-related pain. Patients rated pain from “0” (no pain) to “10” (extreme pain) using a visual analog scale (VAS). MIST Therapy was provided 3 times weekly until wound beds were substantially granulated or reepithelialized.

       Editor's note: Click here to see the clinical results of the six inpatients.

       This case series study demonstrated the clinical effectiveness of the MIST Therapy System in 6 outpatients with complicated wounds. Wounds were associated with diabetes, venous insufficiency, spider bite, full-thickness burn, sickle-cell anemia, and, for some patients, presumed bacterial colonization and/or extreme pain. Overall, patients received 5–26 MIST treatments and were healed within 2–13 weeks.
       Based on our clinical experience, MIST Therapy substantially increased healing rates compared with other commonly used treatment modalities. Additionally, MIST Therapy, together with good standard of care, rapidly reduced wound-associated pain—even for the most painful wounds.
       Since we began using MIST Therapy in January 2006, it has become our treatment modality of choice for chronic recalcitrant ulcers, especially venous and diabetic wounds. We have found MIST Therapy to be the most comprehensive of all treatment modalities, because it painlessly assists with debridement of necrotic tissue, promotes granulation and reepithelialization across wound beds, and decreases bacterial load. Because our patients quickly associated MIST Therapy with reduced pain and necrotic tissue, they readily agreed to return 3 times weekly for MIST Therapy treatments.
       From an economic standpoint, we find MIST Therapy to be less time-consuming than other treatment modalities in terms of set up, treatment, and breakdown, and it requires no additional support staff. Additionally, since we began providing MIST Therapy, we use fewer expensive enzyme and antibiotic treatments. Based on the success of this study in outpatients with complicated wounds, we plan to initiate an inpatient study with the MIST Therapy System in 2007.