GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A pineapple-based burn treatment is now being used for the first time in Michigan, and it's called NexoBrid.
“When a patient sustains a burn, they have a lot of dead tissue at the top of their skin at the surface, and we have to remove that dead tissue," said Nurse and Burn Program Coordinator Emily Krebsbach.
At Corewell Health, NexoBrid is being used on burn victims. The treatment contains a gel and a mixing powder, and also involves a specific type of pineapple.
Nurse Krebsbach says this type of pineapple is manufactured in Israel. So, safe to say, the average pineapple at home can't exactly treat a patient's burns.
A proteolytic enzyme is the active ingredient in this treatment. “That is what is put into the product that works to debride that dead tissue and differentiate the difference between the dead tissue and the healthy tissue and spares the healthy tissue,” Nurse Krebsbach said.
NexoBrid is a pale yellow color, and looks something like this:
Nurse Krebsbach says it feels like aloe, but once it's applied, it liquefies the dead tissue.
Corewell Health was cleared to start using NexoBrid last month, and so far, it's proved successful. “It was, you know, really the type of outcome that we were hoping for,” Nurse Krebsbach said.
Before NexoBrid, severe burns would have to be treated in an operating room. Now, patients have another treatment option.
NexoBrid is available at Corewell Health for patients with second and third degree burns.
For more information on NexoBrid, click here.
NexoBrid Product Overview by WXMI on Scribd
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