Deep Diabetic Foot Wound Treatment With Hydrogel Including 3% Sodium Pentaborate Pentahydrate

Chronic foot wounds which is very difficult to treat are common especially in diabetic and peripheral arterial or venous insufficiency patients. For these reason we prepared a hydrogel formulations.

Gel preparation:

Hydrogel formulations were prepared by dispersing 1%(w/v) carbopol polymer (Carbopol Ultrez-21, Lubrizol, USA) in distilled water. Neutralization buffer (1.6g of 1M sodium hydroxide solution for 1L polymer-water suspension) was used for the gelation of the polymer. Sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (3% w/v), F68 (2% w/v) and F127 (2% w/v) were mixed into the blank hydrogel and stored at 4 °C until it completely dissolved (approximately 24 h). pH of the hydrogel formulation was set to 6.5-7.0 using 1M sodium hydroxide. The hydrogel without any active ingredient was used as negative control (vehicle).

For the first group after wound dressing we applied hydrogel with 3% Sodium pentaborate pentahydrate, and for the control group after wound dressing we applied hydrogel without any active ingredient everyday for two months. The same doctor observed and took photo of the wounds every week in the outpatients clinic.