Visualization of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Distributions Within Pressure Ulcer Tissue Using the Wound Blotting Method: A Case Report and Discussion

• Published in: Wounds (King of Prussia, Pa.) Vol. 26; no. 11; pp. 323 - 329
• Main Authors: Kitamura, Aya, Nakagami, Gojiro, Yoshida, Mikako, Noguchi, Hiroshi, Nishijima, Yoshimi, Minematsu, Takeo, Naito, Ayumi, Sugawara, Jun, Shibayama, Hiroki, Takahashi, Kazuo, Hakuta, Amiko, Umemoto, Junichi, Terada, Nao, Segawa, Ryo, Mori, Taketoshi, Sanada, Hiromi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-11-2014
• ISSN: 1943-2704

Wound blotting can be used to visualize the protein distribution on a wound bed through protein collection by attaching a nitrocellulose membrane to the wound surface. This study checked for consistency between the protein distributions determined by wound blotting and those determined by removal of the tissue. A patient who was planning to undergo surgical debridement of an ulcer in the sacral region that was caused by lying down for a long period after a cerebral hemorrhage was recruited in Fujisawa City Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan. Wound blotting was performed just prior to surgical debridement and the debrided tissue embedded in paraffin. The ulcer, which had a 2.9 cm major axis, was divided into 20 areas approximately 0.35 cm2 each, and the consistency of tumor necrosis factor-α positivity between the wound blotting samples and tissue sections was examined in each area. The sensitivity and specificity of wound blotting were 89% and 82%, respectively. This wound blotting method noninvasively revealed the protein distributions within the wound tissue.