Developments In Wound Management To Revolutionise Traditional Practices, UK

Main Category: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 15 Jul 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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Infection of surgical wounds is a significant clinical problem which imposes severe demands on healthcare resources. The ability to better understand the problems caused by infections and their associated health implications may provide an alternative to traditional wound healing practices.

This is just one of the topics set to be discussed at the Recent developments in wound management: intelligent biomaterials to novel antimicrobials one day conference. Hosted by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), in partnership with the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the event will take place on Thursday 24 September 2009 at the RPSGB London headquarters.

The conference aims to deliver world class research solutions to strategic wound management and will bring delegates up to date with recent developments in this field. Peter Lambert, Professor of Microbiology, at the University of Aston, who will be presenting the key note address "The problem organisms - their source, resistance and virulence", said: "Enhanced approaches into ways of improving wound healing practices are urgently required. Understanding the problem organisms of infection cause will improve the effectiveness of skin disinfectants used during surgical procedures."

"Devices such as central venous catheters, sutures and dressings can be designed to release antimicrobials and provide protection from associated infection during their lifetime, but this is impractical for long term devices. New strategies are needed to improve the current situation." A major concern is that the widespread use and dependence upon antibiotics and other antimicrobials with medical devices, sutures and dressings will encourage the development of resistance. Evidence for and against will be presented and discussed at the conference. The event has also gathered together speakers with expertise in front line wound management, material science, next generation device development and antimicrobial interventions at the molecular level.

Other topics and presentations to be discussed at the conference include novel antimicrobial materials, devices such as drug eluting stents and catheters, along with developments in biomaterial design.

The conference is aimed at academic, industrial and regulatory scientists working in biomaterials, synthetic chemistry, natural products, devices and formulation development, in addition to pharmaceutical and medial microbiologists.

Delegates who register by Friday 24 July will save up to 10% on the booking fee. To view the programme, go to http://www.rpsgb.org/pdfs/sciconf090924.pdf.

Source
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

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