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.

       Venous stasis ulcers can be painful, making sharp debridement of slough and fibrin difficult for patients to tolerate. Novel maintenance debridement modalities are needed to help patients with venous stasis ulcers endure the necessary and frequent treatments. The Wound Care Center at Monticello-Big Lake Hospital began using the MIST Therapy^® System (Celleration^®, Inc.) in July 2006 as an adjunct to standard wound care treatment.
       The MIST Therapy System is a noncontact, therapeutic ultrasound device cleared by Food and Drug Administration to promote wound healing through wound cleansing and maintenance debridement by the removal of yellow slough, fibrin, tissue exudate, and bacteria. The low-frequency ultrasound waves of the MIST Therapy System are delivered via a sterile saline mist. Treatments are painless because the device does not contact the wound. Additionally, a recent retrospective chart review study reported anecdotal evidence that MIST Therapy rapidly reduced wound-related pain.¹
       This is a retrospective review of the clinical effectiveness of the MIST Therapy System in patients with venous stasis ulcers treated at the Wound Care Center. Six consenting patients with venous stasis ulcers with fibrin and slough in the wound beds were nonrandomly selected to study the clinical effectiveness of MIST Therapy as an adjunct to standard care treatments. Patients received 5-minute MIST Therapy treatments 2–3 times weekly until wound beds were 100% granulated. Wound healing was evaluated on the basis of reductions in wound volume, wound-related pain using a visual analog scale (VAS) that allows patients to rate pain from 0 (no pain) to 10 (extreme pain), infection, and increases in granulation tissue across wound beds.

       Editor's note: Click here to download a PDF of the full article, including the clinical results and photographs of the six inpatients.

Conclusion

       Four men and 2 women with venous stasis ulcers were treated with MIST Therapy as an adjunct to standard wound care treatment. The patients were Caucasian, ranging in age from 47–77 years of age. In addition to venous insufficiency, the patients had a variety of other comorbid conditions, including diabetes mellitus type 2, peripheral vascular disease, obesity, and coronary artery disease. Patients underwent 2–3 MIST Therapy treatments per week, lasting 5 minutes each. Overall, patients had 7–24 MIST Therapy treatments. Wounds were treated until 100% granulation was achieved. All wounds closed within 3 weeks of MIST Therapy discontinuation, except for Patient #3, whose wound stayed free of fibrin and continued to slowly epithelialize. The two patients with wound-related pain reported rapid pain resolution following excellent wound care and MIST Therapy initiation.
       In the short period of time that we have used the MIST Therapy System as an adjunct to standard wound care treatment, we have found it to be an effective and painless method of debridement. MIST Therapy has also proven to be a cost-effective treatment modality. It accelerates healing, which translates to fewer dressing changes and clinic visits. Additionally, our patients with wound-related pain found almost immediate pain relief following MIST Therapy initiation, which enabled them to discontinue the use of expensive pain medications.
       Overall, the Wound Care Center at Monticello-Big Lake Hospital has found MIST Therapy to be a positive adjunct to standard wound care treatments.

       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, as well as the selection of metrics to measure wound healing, are specific to the author and not necessarily those of Celleration, Inc., ECPN, or HMP Communications, LLC. Patients were selected for your educational benefit. The opinions herein my not be consistent with the labeling for MIST Therapy System. Visit www.celleration.com for the full package insert. Results may vary.