MARSI: An under-recognized and serious complication
Medical Adhesive-Related Skin Injury (MARSI) is a common type of skin injury which is often seen in vulnerable patients with fragile skin such as elderly or paediatric patients.
It is caused by trauma to the skin from medical adhesives, and typically manifests as:
- Skin tears
- Blistering, moist or macerated skin
- Folliculitis
- Skin-stripping
- Superficially denuded skin
Regimens and adhesives have been developed to minimise the incidence of MARSI, but it has proven difficult to achieve satisfactory adhesion while also avoiding skin damage.
MARSI can severely reduce the patients’ quality of life by causing pain, increased risk of infection and delayed healing . A study in an elderly long-term patient population has proved that the incidence rate of MARSI was as high as 15.5%*.
Even though MARSI has been under-recognised historically, its proven prevalence has brought attention to the problem both in the research literature and among health care companies.
Source: WoundsUK; 3M; WoundSource Notes: *) Konya et al, 2010
The Lumina Solution
In 2008 Lumina was founded to make a difference in the medical dressing field and address skin damage due to MARSI. Lumina’s adhesive is an innovation. It is a switchable medical adhesive with strong fixation and easy removal. During the dialogue with healthcare providers it became clear that a large number of patients are not covered by the focus areas of existing medical dressing offerings. With the innovative new adhesive, you can now have the best of both worlds – strong fixation with easy and skin friendly removal. Less pain for children, reduced skin injury for the elderly or patients with weak skin and easier, quicker dressing removal for nurses.
Step 1
Applydressing.
Step 2
Illuminate withthe Switch Torchbefore removal.
Step 3
Remove dressing.Easy, gentlewound care.
The Lumina dressing’s consist of a thin polyurethane membrane, coated with a layer of an innovative switchable adhesive. The dressing, which is permeable to both water vapour and oxygen, is impermeable to micro-organisms once in position, it provides an effective bacterial barrier to external contamination. When applied, the adhesive is strong and offers secure adhesion to the skin.
Switching occurs by the use of the Switch Torch supplied by Lumina. Before removal, the dressing is illuminated with the Switch Torch for a few seconds using a specific wavelength of light. The adhesive strength is significantly reduced through illumination and the dressing removal can be performed easily, without causing skin damage.