Randomized standard-of-care-controlled trial of a silica gel fibre matrix in the treatment of chronic venous leg ulcers

Background: Chronic venous leg ulcers (CVU) are a common, unresolved medical problem. Silica gel fibre (SGF) is a novel biodegradable inorganic material developed to serve as a carrier substrate for the local release of pharmaceutical agents facilitating tissue repair. Objectives: To assess the performance and safety of SGF in subjects with CVU. Methods: Open, randomized, standard-of-care-controlled, multi-centre trial. Subjects (ITT 120 patients) received either SGF in addition to standard treatment or standard-of-care treatment (S-o-C) alone. The primary performance variable was the time to healing of the target ulcer until the end of a 12 week treatment period. Results: SGF was well tolerated. Mean time to healing up to week 12 was 85.62 days for the SGF group (SE +/- 1.5) and 79.66 days for the S-o-C group (SE +/- 1.77) (p-value = 0.217). There was no statistically relevant difference regarding the incidence of complete healing of the target ulcers by weeks 12 and 24 between the SGF and the S-o-C groups (p-value >0.05). Conclusion: SGF is well tolerated and offers a promising perspective as a carrier substrate for the local release of active pharmaceutical agents into the wound site to promote tissue repair.