Comparison of homecare costs of local wound care in surgical patients randomized between occlusive and gauze dressings

Natural and Synthetic Polymeric Biomaterials for Application in Wound Management

Biomaterials are at the forefront of the future, finding a variety of applications in the biomedical field, especially in wound healing, thanks to their biocompatible and biodegradable properties. Wounds spontaneously try to heal through a series of interconnected processes involving several initiators and mediators such as cytokines, macrophages, and fibroblasts. The combination of biopolymers with wound healing properties may provide opportunities to synthesize matrices that stimulate and trigger target cell responses crucial to the healing process. This review outlines the optimal management and care required for wound treatment with a special focus on biopolymers, drug-delivery systems, and nanotechnologies used for enhanced wound healing applications. Researchers have utilized a range of techniques to produce wound dressings, leading to products with different characteristics. Each method comes with its unique strengths and limitations, which are important to consider. The future trajectory in wound dressing advancement should prioritize economical and eco-friendly methodologies, along with improving the efficacy of constituent materials. The aim of this work is to give researchers the possibility to evaluate the proper materials for wound dressing preparation and to better understand the optimal synthesis conditions as well as the most effective bioactive molecules to load.

A prospective clinical pilot study comparing two post-operative dressings in the treatment of surgical incisions in volunteers

OBJECTIVE

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are one of the leading causes of post-operative morbidity and mortality worldwide. The original post-operative dressing, gauze taped in place, did not protect the incision from contamination. A recent clinical trial demonstrated that transparent films were superior to gauze in reducing SSIs. Transparent films are semi-occlusive (semi-permeable, transparent). They protect the incision from contamination; however, one of the drawbacks of current films is that they may become dislodged during daily activities, such as showering. Patients may not realise that the integrity of the dressing has been compromised, leading to soiling of the incision and possible infection. DrySee (DrySee Inc., US) is a novel film dressing with a colorimetric indicator that alerts the patient when the dressing has been compromised.

METHOD

This trial compared the film dressing with the indicator (DSD) to a commonly used post-operative dressing comparator (Tegaderm + Pad; 3M, US). A 1.5cm incision was made in the volar forearm of volunteers. The incisions were randomly treated with the DSD or comparator dressing.

RESULTS

A cohort of 20 volunteer patients was recruited. The DSD had a greater wear time and patients reported that the DSD dressing stayed in place better during activities compared to the comparator.

CONCLUSION

Overall, 75% of patients preferred DSD and 25% preferred the comparator.

Wound, pressure ulcer and burn guidelines - 1: Guidelines for wounds in general, second edition

The Japanese Dermatological Association prepared the clinical guidelines for the "Wound, pressure ulcer and burn guidelines", second edition, focusing on treatments. Among them, "Guidelines for wounds in general" is intended to provide the knowledge necessary to heal wounds, without focusing on particular disorders. It informs the basic principles of wound treatment, before explanations are provided in individual chapters of the guidelines. We updated all sections by collecting references published since the publication of the first edition. In particular, we included new wound dressings and topical medications. Additionally, we added "Question 6: How should wound-related pain be considered, and what should be done to control it?" as a new section addressing wound pain, which was not included in the first edition.

Wound Dressings and Comparative Effectiveness Data

Significance: Injury to the skin provides a unique challenge, as wound healing is a complex and intricate process. Acute wounds have the potential to move from the acute wound to chronic wounds, requiring the physician to have a thorough understanding of outside interventions to bring these wounds back into the healing cascade. Recent Advances: The development of new and effective interventions in wound care remains an area of intense research. Negative pressure wound therapy has undoubtedly changed wound care from this point forward and has proven beneficial for a variety of wounds. Hydroconductive dressings are another category that is emerging with studies underway. Other modalities such as hyperbaric oxygen, growth factors, biologic dressings, skin substitutes, and regenerative materials have also proven efficacious in advancing the wound-healing process through a variety of mechanisms. Critical Issues: There is an overwhelming amount of wound dressings available in the market. This implies the lack of full understanding of wound care and management. The point of using advanced dressings is to improve upon specific wound characteristics to bring it as close to "ideal" as possible. It is only after properly assessing the wound characteristics and obtaining knowledge about available products that the "ideal" dressing may be chosen. Future Directions: The future of wound healing at this point remains unknown. Few high-quality, randomized controlled trials evaluating wound dressings exist and do not clearly demonstrate superiority of many materials or categories. Comparative effectiveness research can be used as a tool to evaluate topical therapy for wound care moving into the future. Until further data emerge, education on the available products and logical clinical thought must prevail.