It was reported that customer has few dressings on patients in which the silicone was deteriorating and breaking down.The residue from the silicone was then either staying on the patients skin, or decomposing in the patients wounds.The implications to this is that many of the patients in icu are not moved, and dressings cannot be checked daily.A similar complaint has been made in reference to this hospital experiencing the same issues with the dressing.
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We have now concluded our investigation into this complaint.The returned sample was evaluated which confirmed the presence of silicone offsetting, however, the wound contact surface of allevyn life sacrum is coated with a gentle silicone adhesive layer that ensures non-traumatic removal at dressing changes.The silicone adhesive will feel sticky when compared to an acrylic adhesive and is specially designed to be very soft and gentle, but can soften further, particularly at higher temperatures.This is an inherent characteristic of all of the silicone adhesives and gives them their soft / gentle properties.It is therefore possible if the product has been stored at a high temperature, this could have contributed to the reported issue.Smith and nephew acknowledge customer concern and are continually investigating ways to develop and improve our products.We will continue to monitor for any adverse trends relating to this product range.
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