Advanced Wound Care Products, Article Critique Example

Introduction

An article written by Walker (2008) addresses the relevance of Exsikines and their role in promoting effective treatments for wounds of different types, including diabetic ulcers and pressure ulcers. Based upon the nature of this exploratory study and its key objectives, the article title is appropriate, yet it only addresses one specific type of treatment alternative. Many questions remain unanswered by the title alone due to the complex nature of wound care. The article notes that the use of Exsikines serves as a means of treating wounds of a chronic nature, specifically since these wounds are historically difficult to treat and recover from on a consistent basis, using current available treatment methods (Walker, 2008). However, upon review of the study in greater detail, it does not provide an effective understanding of Exsikines and their role in wound care because this area of focus is far too broad and complex to apply one single type of treatment, even for chronic wounds.

Analysis

The problem statement as emphasized by the author appears to address the issues surrounding effective care and treatment for chronic wounds (Walker, 2008). Nonetheless, there are many gaps in knowledge and research within the article because Exsikines are unable to serve as a key treatment alternative for the selected patient population (Walker, 2008). Many research strategies must be established and investigated in order to improve chronic wound management (Walker, 2008). It is important to address the most critcal issues surrounding chronic wound care by utilizing new approaches in order to better accommodate patients facing these risks on a continuous basis (Walker, 2008). In response to the challenges of chronic wound care, the author attempts to utilize existing research resources in an effective manner to support this topic and its impact on the affected patient population (Walker, 2008). However, this evidence is insufficient to demonstrate that Exsikines could be a viable treatment alternative for the many different classifications of wounds that exist. Therefore, the study questions are very limiting and do not provide sufficient information to consider Exsikines as a viable treatment alternative.Furthermore, the sample size chosen for the study of 21 patients is small and highly insufficient for the evaluation of Exsikines in treating chronic wounds (Walker, 2008).

The study instrument was comprised of baseline measurements of the affected areas, along with the application of Exsikines to these areas every four days (Walker, 2008). For the study, a number of measures were taken in order to establish efficacy of Exsikines in treating chronic wounds (Walker, 2008). The reliability of this method was determined on the basis of the study results after several applications of this treatment (Walker, 2008). The data is clearly insufficient to measure the ability of Exsikines in treating chronic wounds due to the complexity of this type of injury.

Conclusion

The study also determined that with respect to the Exsikine treatment method, healing is achieved on a very gradual basis; however, there is a risk of recurrent infections with both diabetic and pressure ulcers (Walker, 2008). The study conclusions demonstrate that there are considerable opportunities to heal chronic wounds with the use of Exsikines, but that the results are not immediate (Walker, 2008). In addition, they are inconsistent, and a small patient population does not satisfy the study objectives, nor does it consider the many types of wound classifications. This information is self-limiting and requires additional studies in the treatment of chronic wounds using Exsikines and other alternatives, using larger study populations and a variety of wound classifications (Walker, 2008). Many different treatment methods are necessary in order to accomplish the desired objectives in the effective treatment of chronic wounds across a much larger patient population (Walker, 2008).

References

Walker, MJ Jr. (2008). A comparative study of the use of Exsikines and other advanced wound care products/modalities in the treatment of various wound types in efficacy. Advances in Skin & Wound Care, 21(5), 218-226.