PPPS-2013: This is a sample abstract submission: Cold atmospheric argon plasma accelerates wound healing in chronic infected wounds in patients

Objectives: Chronic infected wounds are both socioeconomic and medical problem. Combating bacterial resistance is on of the greatest challenges in the 21^st century. In previous reports, 2 min and 5 min cold argon plasma treatments led to a significant reduction in bacterial load in chronic wounds of various causes in patients, regardless of the bacterial species. The observed bactericidal effect of plasma therapy relies on the synergy of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, charged particles, electric fields, and UVR. This study evaluates the effect of CAPs on wound healing in vivo. Methods: Hard-to-heal chronic wounds of various types in 70 patients (Group A) were treated with cold argon atmospheric plasma for 3-7 minutes. The wound size before and after a course of treatment was compared for plasma-treated and control wounds. Subgroup analyses were performed for all chronic venous ulcers (n=29, Group B) and 5 min plasma treatment of chronic venous ulcers (n=18, Group C). Results: Retrospective analysis of Group A revealed a 10.4 % reduction in width of plasma treated wounds compared to 4.2 % in the control (p=0.270). Length reduced by 8.2 % compared to 5.1% respectively (p=0.068). In Group B a significantly greater reduction in width (17.9 %, p=0.03) was measured in plasma-treated ulcers compared to controls (0 %). However changes in length were not significantly different (9.1 % vs. 8.9 %, p=0.46). The Group C sub analysis showed a highly significant reduction in width (14.6 % vs. 0 %, p=0.008) with plasma treatment but not in ulcer length (2.7 % vs. 8.4 %, p=0.352). Conclusions: This study demonstrates for the first time that plasma treatment can actually accelerate wound healing in a range of chronic wounds, but particularly chronic venous ulcers.