Prospera Educational Symposium Redefines Best Practices in NPWT - Long-held Assumptions Challenged by Growing Body of Recent Research

FORT WORTH, Texas--(Business Wire)--
Prospera Technologies, LLC hosted a major NPWT scientific symposium held April
17, 2010 during the Annual Spring meeting of the Symposium on Advanced Wound
Care (SAWC) and Wound Healing Society (WHS), in Orlando, Florida. The unusually
comprehensive session, titled "The Evolution of NPWT: Evidence-based Innovations
to Optimize Therapy and Avoid Complications," featured keynote speaker Malin
Malmsjo, MD, PhD, and Associate Professor at Lund University, Lund, Sweden. The
meeting not only addressed key NPWT variables in light of recent scientific
evidence, but also offered extremely practical guidance to the 150 wound care
professionals in attendance (physicians, nurses, therapists, and others).
Historical gaps in the NPWT evidence base were outlined, followed by a
step-by-step review of recent novel studies testing the use of various negative
pressure levels, various wound fillers, and different modes of negative pressure
delivery (continuous, intermittent, and variable). Claus Brandigi, MD, Associate
Director, Joseph M. Still Burn Center, Augusta, Georgia, moderated the session.

Speaker Cindy Ahearn, RN, MS, ET, CWCN, FNP-BC, Director of Clinical Services
for Prospera, in her opening remarks, stated, "For many years, there was an
unwavering acceptance of a `gold standard` that involved using continuous
negative pressure at -125 mmHg, and a foam filler. Despite incomplete evidence
and knowledge about the actual biological effects of various NPWT practices, and
despite frequent pain and the need for considerable pain medication, few people
questioned this predominate protocol. Things began to change just a few years
ago, when studies conducted in a number of countries began to be presented and
published."

Malmsjo then presented (via digital download and teleconference), results of a
comprehensive series of studies in porcine wound models that she and her
colleagues had conducted. She was unable to attend the symposium in person
because of the volcano eruption in Iceland and the subsequent airline
disruptions. The studies she presented covered microvascular blood flow using
various negative pressures and wound fillers, tissue in-growth, force required
to remove foam versus gauze, pressure transduction, macro and microdeformation
(mechanical effects of NPWT), granulation tissue characteristics, wound bed
histology, and measurement of neuropeptides as signals of pain during dressing
changes. Malmsjo`s presentation can be viewed in its entirety at
http://prospera-npwt.com/clinical/conferences-and-seminars/.

Key among the findings is that maximal biological effect can be achieved at -80
mmHg. For soft tissue wounds at risk of ischemia, even lower negative pressures
may be more appropriate. Pressure transduction and wound contraction are similar
using foam or gauze. The Swedish team also found that foam filler is subject to
tissue ingrowth, whereas gauze is not, and that much more force is required to
remove foam than gauze. Granulation tissue formed using foam is thick,
disorganized, and less stable than granulation tissue formed using gauze, which
is thinner and more stable, and less prone to scarring. Leukocytes are found in
greater amounts in wound bed tissues using foam versus gauze. In the most recent
study, the team measured calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and substance P,
neuropeptides known to be released upon tissue trauma and inflammation that may
signal pain. The foam and gauze fillers were removed following 72 hours of NPWT.
Both CGRP and substance P were significantly more abundant after removal of foam
than gauze.

Cindy Ahearn then queried the audience, "So what does all this new information
mean to us, as we prepare to go home and put this knowledge to work? For me, the
first lesson is the need to recognize that many long-held assumptions now simply
have to be challenged, and critically reconsidered, in light of the new
evidence. It`s really a great opportunity for us to take the new information and
improve care, simplify care, and tailor care to the individual needs of the
patient. We now know that lower negative pressures, which cause less pain, can
still deliver maximal biological effects. We know that gauze produces stable,
high-quality granulation tissue, and that moist AMD gauze (Covidien, Mansfield
Mass) under negative pressure offers antimicrobial protection, will not adhere
to the wound, and can be removed safely in one piece. In addition, this will
significantly reduce the need for pain medication which may have side effects
that may interfere with wound healing. At Prospera, one significant innovation
we derived from the research is Variable Pressure Therapy (VPT), in which two
alternating negative pressures are cycled, never falling to 0 mmHg (atmospheric
pressure). We recognized the superior benefits of intermittent therapy over
continuous therapy that were seen in the earliest NPWT research, but which were
never adopted, because of system shortcomings. In VPT technology and the use of
AMD gauze we think we have found a very elegant solution to enhance the
effectiveness of NPWT. Good medical practice is simplifying care, avoiding pain
and the need for excessive pain medication, improving patient outcomes and
quality of life, and conserving resources (dollars, time, etc). As a whole,
these findings set a new standard for the future of NPWT."

About Prospera®

Prospera® is a company rooted in its commitment to the development of scientific
research to advance the understanding of the use of NPWT in wound healing in
order to engineer further enlightened and innovative products that will bring
NPWT into the future. Prospera® (Fort Worth, TX) PRO series of NPWT pumps are
engineered specifically for NPWT providing patient comfort, simplicity of use,
optimal and cost effective outcomes.

Prospera Technologies, LLC
Hamid Khosrowshahi, 888-408-NPWT (6798)
Fax: 888-674-NPWT (6798)
Email: info@prospera-npwt.com
www.prospera-npwt.com

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