Banana Leaves with Coconut Oil to Reduce Sticking Problem from Bandaid in Wound Dressing

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness of banana leave soaked with coconut oil for wound dressing, particularly the types of wounds such as burns, abrasion or laceration which are usually adherent to the gauze routinely used in wound dressing. Sofra tulle® is used generally for such wound dressing. However, it is not always available due to its high cost and limited supply. Some innovations were trailed to replace the commercial product; and the use of banana leaf has been proposed. This innovation can be produced by using young banana leaf; and begin by leave the leaf in the place which has good air flowing. After the leaf dries, smoothing it by ironing and cut it into pieces (6.5 cm. x 9.5 cm.). Then, puncture the pieces to have multiple holes with 0.5 centimeter distance among the holes, and dip them into vergin coconut oil – leave for 2 or 3 days to let the leaves absorb the oil. After that, collect the banana leaf pieces in plastic bags (10 centimeters x 15 centimeters) – each bag contains 1 or 2 pieces, place them in high pressure steam to sterilize before use. In this study, the treated banana leaves were used in Huachang Health Promoting Hospital for wound dressing for 3 consecutive days in patients with burns, wounds from traffic accidents and other injuries during June 2014 – June 2015). There were altogether 9 patients. In all cases, there was no incident of adherent of gauze to the wounds. Eight of them (88.89%) expressed high satisfaction to the product, so did all the wound care workers. In addition, this innovation was applied in other health promoting hospitals, and it was well accepted. Thus, the innovation could be analternative for effective wound dressing.