Cold atmospheric plasma therapy on wound bed preparation: A preliminary report on diabetic foot ulcer

Cold-atmospheric plasma (CAP) is an ionized gas produced at an atmospheric pressure that made possible its use for medical applications in wound healing, blood coagulation, bacteria disinfection and cancer therapy. In this study, we evaluated the safety and efficacy of CAP for preparation of wound bed in patients with chronic diabetic foot ulcer. Twenty five patients with chronic diabetic foot ulcer were enrolled in this study. Beside conventional therapy (debridement, off-loading and infection control), the patients received CAP treatment (Plasma ONE, Plasma Medical Systems GMBH Co., Germany) that utilize dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) method for producing plasma twice weekly. The ulcers were evaluated and measured weekly for 10 weeks. The mean time required to induce the development of healthy granulation tissue and reduction of inflammation improved after at least 4 sessions CAP therapy significantly. Our finding showed that the using CAP therapy could make wound bed preparation and accelerate healing process consequently. However, it is necessary to conduct more studies with appropriate control groups.