Topical use of papaya in chronic skin ulcer therapy in Jamaica

The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of the use of th e fruit (papaya) of Carica papaya as topical ulcer dressings by registered nurses in the Spanish Town Hospital (STH), Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) a nd the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), Jamaica. A ten-item p retested self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 285 randomly se lected registered nurses at the UHWI, KPH and STH. There was a 72% response rate. The prevalence of topical papaya use among the respondents was 75%. Comments from the users of papaya suggested that topical application of the unripe fruit promoted desloughing, granulation and healing and reduced odo ur in chronic skin ulcers. It was cost effective. Papaya was considered to be more effective than other topical applications in the treatment of chron ic ulcers. There was some difficulty in preparation of the fruit and occasi onally a sensation of burning was reported by the patients. There was conce rn about the use of a non-sterile, non-standardised procedure but there wer e no reports of wound infection from its use. Papaya is widely used by nurs es as a form of dressing for chronic ulcers and there is need for standardi sation of its preparation and application.