In our previous study, we described how L-carnosine and its zinc complex polaprezinc could be promising novel agents for the oral treatment of pressure ulcers (PUs). For its potency, polaprezinc did not differ significantly from L-carnosine in comparison between treatment groups. Thus, the key question of whether additional zinc confers a benefit was not answered. For patients previously treated with L-carnosine for 4 weeks, in the present study we replaced L-carnosine with polaprezinc to examine the extent to which polaprezinc differs from L-carnosine. Patients received 150 mg/day polaprezinc (containing 116 mg L-carnosine and 34 mg zinc) orally for ≤8 weeks. PU severity was measured weekly using the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) score. Ten patients (61.0±11.2 years) orally ingesting standard diets were enrolled. PU stages were III (eight patients) and IV (two). Mean weekly improvement in PUSH score (MWIP) was 1.8±0.9, which was numerically, but not significantly, greater compared with during L-carnosine treatment (P=0.156, 1.3±0.6). Increased MWIP was found in five patients, unchanged MWIP in three, and decreased MWIP in two. One patient dropped out (week 4; pneumonia) and the PUs of the remaining nine patients healed within 8 weeks. Serum level of zinc was 65.3±4.6μg/dL at baseline and increased significantly from week 1 (P<0.01). The switching treatment from L-carnosine to polaprezinc indicated that orally-administered additional zinc tended to improve PU healing, although statistic power was limited. Further study is needed to test for larger sample sizes as well as for subjects with poorer zinc status, especially those with eating difficulty.