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Dressing Changes and Allergic Reactions
Have you experienced extreme skin reactions to the supplies used for dressing changes? What are some of the tricks and/or products you have found work best for you in controlling skin breakdown?
My son has very sensitive skin and a serious allergy to Tegaderm. He has been asked if he can use it for a short time and the answer is a big NO! Just moments after it touches his skin a serious rash or skin breakdown develops that can last days. When he had a central line for 6 years what worked best for him is Primapore. One problem is hospitals don’t often have it on hand so we always made sure to bring it with us. The other issue is if an IV is placed or he has a picc line then the hospital doesn’t want to use Primapore because they can’t see through it. In this care he uses IV3000 which sometimes causes minor irritation but not as serious.
He can’t use Chlorhexidine either so instead he rely’s on Betadine and simple saline. The wipes they give you to wash up with prior to surgery has Chlorhexidine in them so he can’t use those either. The Silverlon is supposed to be an option for people allergic to the Biopatch but he actually has a worse reaction to it. He was able to tolerate the Biopatch for the most part but whenever his skin needed a break from it we had permission to create a chevron with tape for temporary support. Not ideal but sometimes very necessary!
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2 Replies
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I can use the Tegaderm HP only with the iodine also. I used to have a separate skin protector called Skin Prep when I got my supplies from CVS specialty pharmacy but I am with Accredo now and they done carry it.
At first I could use the BioPatch for about 5 years but that allergic rxn became so bad I had to stop.
I have tried IV3000 in the past but it still irritates my skin. I currently use a small 2×3 version of the Tegaderm HP and use 3 to cover my site in smaller ways than the 4×4.
I have been on Veletri since 2012 and have tolerated it very well. This year I switched to the Solis pump and I feel I get a larger dose per cycle because I have had serious intestinal problems since I made the chg.
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@Buglady I forgot about skin prep. We used that on my son as well. Accredo did offer it at one time. In case you haven’t discovered the issue already, the clothes they give you to wear after a surgery have Chlorhexidine in them. My son was prepping for surgery one time and broke out in a rash, and we linked it to the cloths.
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