Santyl

[NurseHotFlash]

Can some of you guys give me advise on how to use this stuff? I got an order the other day that said "apply to pink area of wound". I thought this was a medicine for debridement, and I was afraid that it would eat up the "pink" tissue. I read the insert that came with it, and it said the med would not harm new tissue, and that it only breaks down dead tissue. If that is true, what would be the point in putting it on "pink" tissue?

[mommy.19, MSN, RN, APRN]

Well, unfortunately I can't speak to what the intent of the practitioner that wrote that order was. However, what you've read in the package insert is true about santyl (collagenase) only breaking down dead collagen, leaving healthy/intact collagen unharmed. Santyl reps now preach that it can be "used to resolution" since it decreases the inflammatory process in the wound and facilitates migration of fibroblasts and keratinocytes (the cells that eventually form the new subcutaneous tissue and epithelium of the resolved wound). Maybe an order clarification would be beneficial, using your skilled assessment of the wound with regard to size, drainage, wound bed appearance, s/s of infection, etc to help guide the practitioner who may not have seen the wound as recently as you have. :)

[NurseHotFlash]

Thanks so much for your help!