Advanced wound management technologies — those used in the clinical management of wounds (not OTC) — represent a $5 billion global market that will triple in the next ten years. These technologies have continued to evolve beyond simple dressings and bandages to be able to accelerate wound healing, improve clinical outcomes and, in particular, attempt to reduce the cost of managing wound types like arterial, venous, diabetic and stasis ulcers.
The distribution of the advanced wound care market across these different wound care types has continued to shift, especially with the development and application of more expensive wound care technologies, which have been incentivized by the high cost of chronic wounds. Physical therapies, which include negative pressure devices, positive pressure devices, mechanically assisted wound closure, hydrotherapy, electrical stimulation, ultraviolet therapy and others, are demonstrating the largest relative growth.
"The intense focus of healthcare reform on the cost of medical technologies might examine wound management as a cost driver, but the reality of products and development in this area is that the high cost of chronic or non-healing wounds is the prime target of the wound management industry's efforts," says Patrick Driscoll of MedMarket Diligence, publisher of the 2009 Worldwide Wound Management Market report. According to Driscoll, the high direct and indirect costs of chronic wounds have created an economic opportunity that sustains advanced technology development. This does not make wound care exempt from the focus of healthcare reform, but does weaken the argument against the "high costs" of advanced technology development.
The MedMarket Diligence report, "Worldwide Wound Management, 2009: Established and Emerging Products, Technologies and Markets in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Rest of World," published September 2009, details the complete range of products and technologies used in wound management and wound care, from dressings, bandages, hydrogels, tissue engineered products, physical treatments and others. The report details current clinical and technology developments in this huge worldwide market with high growth sectors, with data on products in development and on the market; market size and forecast; competitor market shares; competitor profiles; and market opportunity. The report provides full year (actual) 2008 market size and share data, with forecast market data to 2017, for the U.S., Europe, Asia/Pacific and Rest of World.
The report is described in detail, with table of contents and list of exhibits at http://www.mediligence.com/
