J Korean Acad Rehabil Med.  2010 Jun;34(3):253-258.

Therapeutic Effect of the Recombinant Human Epidermal Growth Factor (rhEGF) in Pressure Ulcer

• Cho KH
• Kim YJ

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effect of the recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rhEGF) on pressure ulcer treatment. METHOD: Eighteen patients who had stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcer were divided into two groups. For experimental group, we cleaned the wound with normal saline, applied 0.5 ml of EasyEF liquid(R) (rhEGF 0.5 mg/10 ml) and covered the wound with the humidified gauze 2 times a day. For control group, we cleaned with normal saline and covered with the medifoam for 2 times a day. We estimated the change of the size and the stage of the ulcer weekly for 4 weeks. The longest region of the wound was measured by the width, and the longest line perpendicular to the width was measured by the length.
RESULTS
The width and length of the stage 3 ulcer of experimental group significantly decreased, while control group showed a slightly decreased. The experimental group showed significant improvement compared to the control group (p<0.05) in stage 3 ulcer. In stage 4 ulcer treatment, there were no significant differences between the two groups. In experimental group, 5 regions of the six stage 3 ulcer improved into the stage 2 ulcer during the study, even though only 1 region improved into the stage 2 ulcer in control group.
CONCLUSION
We confirmed that rhEGF was effective in the stage 3 ulcer. rhEGF treatment may be useful for healing of the stage 3 ulcers.

Keyword

Recombinant human epidermal growth factor; Pressure ulcer

MeSH Terms

Epidermal Growth Factor
Humans
Pressure Ulcer
Ulcer
Epidermal Growth Factor