DeScar
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A first in human subjects clinical trial of a bioactive dressing designed to reduce scarring of skin burns
IRAS ID
1004584
Contact name
Naiem Moiemen
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Eudract number
2019-004076-19
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN15170461
Research summary
This trial is looking at new ways to improve the healing of skin burns caused by heat. Scarring can reduce the movement and comfort of limbs and lead to psychological problems. Standard burn dressings only stop the wound from drying out and getting infected, but they can’t actively help the healing process along and reduce scarring. We have developed a new kind of gel dressing that we think may be able to reduce scar formation. Because it is soft and flexible our gel dressing fits snugly onto the wound surface and allows excess moisture to escape. These properties may make the wound less prone to infection and may help it to heal more quickly.
As well as this basic gel dressing we also want to test another version of it that has an active healing substance added into it. There is a naturally occurring substance that is produced by the body to help with skin healing, called decorin. We have developed an identical manmade version of decorin and want to see if adding this into the new gel dressing might boost its healing performance and reduce scarring even more than just the gel alone. This trial is part of a larger study to investigate whether these 2 new dressings – either gel on its own (called ‘Gel-SOLO’) or gel with lab-made decorin added to it (called ‘Gel-PLUS) are safe and comfortable for patients and whether they can speed up healing and reduce scarring compared to the current standard burn dressing.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/NE/0030
Date of REC Opinion
5 Apr 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion