Introduction: Recently, ointment bases have been considered to play more important roles in wound healing than those played by their main agents. There has been an increasing interest in the use of macrogol (MAC) because it is considered to accelerate the epithelialization of pressure ulcers. We compared the effectiveness of MAC and vaseline (VAS) in healing d2 (partial-thickness skin loss) sacral pressure ulcers.Methods: Twenty-five cases of d2 sacral pressure ulcers, which occurred in patients in long-term-care beds in our hospital, were initially included in this study. VAS was applied to d2 sacral pressure ulcers in 13 cases (VAS group), and MAC was also applied in 12 cases (MAC group). After VAS or MAC was applied, all pressure ulcers were covered with non-adhesive, water-absorbing gauzes. One case of in-hospital mortality was excluded from the MAC group; therefore, 13 cases in the VAS group and 11 cases in the MAC group were included in the final analysis. The healing periods were compared between the two groups.Results: There were no significant differences in the patients' background between the two groups. The healing period (days) in the MAC group (8 [7-11.5]) was significantly shorter than that in the VAS group (16 [12-32]) (P=0.029).Conclusion: MAC may accelerates the healing process of d2 sacral pressure ulcers.

Background : The effects of rehabilitation on hemodialysis patients are unknown. We assessed the effects and investigated the association between rehabilitation treatment effects and all-cause mortality. Methods : This prospective cohort study included 120 patients on maintenance hemodialysis. ADL was assessed using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) score (total points, 126), which comprises 13 motor items (total points, 91) and five cognitive items (total points, 35). A survival curve was constructed using the Kaplan-Meier analysis and stratified into an increase or no-increase of the FIM score. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with the effects of rehabilitation. Discriminative sensitivity of FIM cognitive items for an increase in total FIM was estimated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AuROC) curve. Results : The average total FIM score increased from 64.2±3.6 to 75.8±3.0, and the increase in FIM motor and cognitive items was 11.0±1.3 and 0.5±0.6, respectively. The cumulative survival rate within 2.5 years was significantly higher in the FIM increase group than that in the FIM no-increase group. FIM cognitive items and anemia were significantly associated with rehabilitation effects, and AuROC showed that a cutoff of 34 points in cognitive FIM had moderate discriminative sensitivity for a total FIM increase (AuC, 0.719 ; p<0.0008). Conclusions : Rehabilitating hemodialysis patients improved their FIM score (particularly the motor items), and a higher FIM score resulted in a better prognosis. The effectiveness of rehabilitation depends on maintaining a perfect FIM cognitive score.