Case study was conducted at North East Foundation Trust 2014. Patient was a 88 year old female who presented to the Community Nursing Team following the development of an ulcer to her left leg. Mrs A had been previously been treated for lower limb oedema which was managed with compression hosiery.
The leg was red, swollen and painful and the wound was very malodorous. Doppler results indicated the leg ulcer to be venous in origin as the ABPI was 0.83, and an inelastic (short stretch) bandaging regime was commenced. The patient continually complained about the malodour from her bandages which caused her distress. Over time she began to withdraw from social activities, and no longer attended the residential lounge in the sheltered accommodation where she lived, and stopped going out altogether. It had really impacted her self confidence and mood. Gradually the wound began to deteriorate and Ms A was losing confidence in whether or not ther ulcer would ever heal, and most importantly to her, if the odour could be controlled,
Following four months of treatment the nurses at the Leg Club suggested Mrs A to try the new Hero H-2 bandage system, as it claimed to help control the malodour. One week on the wound had improved; this gave the patient great confidence that finally, after several months of no progress with a previous bandage system she was turning the corner. Mrs A stated the bandages were more comfortable than previous systems and she was so pleased that the malodour had completely gone. By week two of applying Hero H-2 the nursing visits were reduced to once weekly. Four weeks later the ulcer had completely healed and Mrs A was fitted with hosiery. The patient asked not to go back to any other bandage system but only ever use Hero H-2.