To Compare the Efficacy of Nitric Oxide Dressing and Standard Dressing in Diabetic Foot Ulcers in A Tertiary Care Centre.

BACKGROUND This Study was conducted and all patients were admitted with Diabetic foot ulcer and was about 40 patients and were Randomized into two groups of 20 each. Subjects of one group received treatment with Nitric oxide dressings, which was revised every alternative day and was observed for a period of three weeks. Subjects of other group received treatment with standard saline dressing and their healing outcome was also observed for a period of three weeks. Wound healing was assessed using Wound assessment tool (Bates - Jensen wound assessment tool) scoring from 1 - 65. Serum levels MMP-9 levels were measured in each group before and after dressing. Efficacy of Nitric oxide dressing over standard saline dressing was recorded. METHODS This was a hospital-based Interventional Study, Randomized (Comparative Study) group conducted among 40 patients diagnosed with diabetic foot ulcer at the Department of General Surgery, PSG Hospitals, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, India, and the duration period was from January 2021 to December 2022 after obtaining clearance from the institutional ethics committee and written informed consent from the study participants. RESULTS When the results of the study were analysed, it became clear that participants who received nitric oxide dressings fared better in terms of healing than those who received regular saline dressings. According to our findings, diabetic ulcers treated with nitric oxide had significantly less ulcer area than ulcers treated with saline after 3 weeks. While the control group exhibited a reduction of 50.5%, the group that had nitric oxide dressing showed a reduction of 66.9% (p value<0.05) CONCLUSION The study summarizes that chronic diabetic foot ulcers lack nitric oxide which impairs wound healing. Administration of exogenous nitric oxide facilitated angiogenesis and vasodilation, thereby promoting would healing. Nitric oxide dressings increase the area of wound healing and showed reduced levels of serum MMP levels when compared to standard saline dressings. Hence, nitric oxide dressing which is cost effective and also reduces the frequency of dressings can be used in regular clinical practice for the management of diabetic foot ulcer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]