Published Mar 16, 2012
xoNurseRNxo
37 Posts
I'm a home health nurse with a pt who has an order for 0.25% acetic acid to be applied to wound. I have had problems with insurance company approving and ordering wound care supplies in the past (took almost a month to have last supplies approved and delivered!). My understanding is acetic acid is vinegar base. Is there formula to making it at home to be use on pt?
mommy.19, MSN, RN, APRN
262 Posts
I definitely wouldn't attempt to "create" a product from household items for patient care. I do know that store purchased vinegar has a very wide and varying range regarding acetic acid concentration. Also, acetic acid is cytotoxic to the wound, killing proliferating fibroblasts and keratinocytes. Is the wound infected, or does it have large amounts of necrotic tissue (just curious as to why the practitioner has ordered the .25% acetic acid soaks? If so, it may need a surgical consult or admission to a wound clinic or physician's office that can perform sharps debridement to lower the wound bioburden and convert the wound to "acute" status. Also, medicare does not usually pay or reimburse for wound cleansing products.
ScienceDirect.com - Journal of Surgical Research - Cytotoxicity to cultured human keratinocytes of topical antimicrobial agents (abstract gives a short excerpt)
Thanks mommy.19! Pts wd was infected. Pt ended up seeing practicioner and different orders were given.
Ah, glad to hear things worked out :)