ibs.GRANADA researchers show the effectiveness of cosmetic products made with EVOO to treat the skin in patients with digestive ostomy
The tests carried out through a pilot study show that there are indications that these cosmetics are more effective in maintaining the integrity of the skin in these patients than the products commonly used for this purpose.
A study carried out by researchers from the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada (ibs.GRANADA) and the universities of Granada and Jaén (UGR and UJA), with the collaboration of the company Notaliv Cosmética Natural and the nurses responsible for ostomy consultations at the Hospital Virgen de las Nieves and Hospital Universitario San Cecilio, has demonstrated the effectiveness of the use of gels made with EVOO to treat peristomal skin in patients with digestive ostomy. This is a novel study that shows the efficacy of these gels in this type of patients and the results obtained show indications that these products are more effective than the current ones for maintaining intact or slightly damaged skin in these people.
The group researcher Ee12-HYGIA: Health care and determining factors in universities of the ibs.GRANADA and the universities of Granada and Jaén and one of the main promoters of this study, César Hueso Montoro, explains that patients with a digestive ostomy are those who undergo a small surgical opening in the abdomen to facilitate the output of urine and feces. These patients require the use of a bag that is attached to the skin to facilitate bowel movements. "Most of these cases occur in patients with colon or rectal cancer, although this type of case also occurs in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases or trauma," adds the expert.
These evacuation devices usually have a disc that is attached to the skin and from which a bag hangs to collect the feces and urine that are evacuated through the opening. The researchers emphasize that the skin that presses on the disc (peristomal) is a very vulnerable and subdued skin, not only due to the adhesion of the disc itself, but also because leaks sometimes occur during evacuation. "In ostomy consultations, the nurse who is an expert in the care of these patients always stresses the importance of caring for and maintaining the integrity of the peristomal skin to prevent its deterioration," highlights the researcher, who stresses that "up to 80% of people women with an ostomy end up having some skin complication.” These complications greatly affect the quality of life of the patient, and represent a great cost for the health system.
"It was generally recommended not to use greasy products to treat peristomal skin, since it was thought that it could complicate disc adhesion, so EVOO was ruled out," says César Hueso, "although we have met patients who, despite these recommendations used cosmetics made with olive oil and did not show complications, this showed that little had been studied in this regard. At this point, the group of researchers contacted the company Notaliv, specialized in natural cosmetics made with olive oil, who manufactured a bath gel with organic EVOO to carry out the aforementioned study, since organic oils have more antioxidant properties. and beneficial to the body.
Using this gel, the group has carried out a comparative pilot study in 21 patients from the ostomy clinics of the aforementioned hospitals in Granada. Eleven of them used this gel and nine used other cosmetics that did not contain EVOO for the maintenance of peristomal skin. According to the research team, the results have shown, firstly, that this gel is a safe product to treat the skin in patients with an ostomy, since none of the patients reported any complications in the use of the gel regarding the disk adhesion. And secondly, that there are indications that cosmetics with EVOO are more effective in maintaining the integrity of the peristomal skin in these patients than the usual products used for this purpose.
The ibs.GRANADA and University of Granada researcher details that these are cosmetic gels, not pharmacological, so their effectiveness is focused on maintaining the peristomal skin when it is in an intact or slightly deteriorated state, which corresponds to the profile of the people included in the trial. And he emphasizes that the great advance of this study is to open the door to the use of cosmetics made with EVOO, which has great benefits for skin care, for this type of patient. The next steps in this line of research will focus on expanding the study sample, to demonstrate these results in a greater number of patients, and on studying the effect of products made with EVOO for more deteriorated skin. The great challenge, therefore, is to obtain funding to be able to continue research.
César Hueso especially highlights the work carried out together with Concepción Capilla Díaz, professor in the Department of Nursing at the UGR. Both are members of the multidisciplinary research group CTS-436 and members of the group Ee12-HYGIA: Health care and determining factors in universities of the Biosanitary Research Institute of Granada. Also noteworthy is the advice received from the professor and researcher at the University of Jaén, Francisco Pedro García Fernández, current coordinator of the Chair of Advanced Studies in Wounds at the UJA, as well as the collaboration of the rest of the research team made up of nurses. Josefa Martín Cebrián, Rosa Huertas Fernández, Inmaculada Sánchez Crisol and Noelia Moya Muñoz. Lastly, special mention is made of the participants, who voluntarily agreed to take part in this study.
The results of this research have been published in the prestigious scientific journal Journal of Tissue Viability.