The first modern wound dressings introduced during the mid 1980s usually combined 2 main characteristics: moisture keeping and absorbing (eg, polyurethane foams, hydrocolloids) or moisture keeping and antibacterial (eg, iod-containing gels).
During the mid 1990s, the group of surgical dressings expanded into the well-recognized groups of products, such as vapor-permeable adhesive films, hydrogels, hydrocolloids, alginates, and synthetic foam dressings. Additionally, new groups of products, such as antiadhesive, mostly silicone meshes; tissue adhesives; barrier films; and silver- or collagen-containing dressings, were introduced. Finally, in the second half of the 1990s, combination products and engineered skin substitutes were developed. Until the end of 2002, many different dressings had been marketed (see the Table below). Currently, the global tendency demonstrates decreasing numbers of product categories approved both in Europe and in the United States, making the wound dressing market more transparent.
The ideal wound dressing should have the following characteristics:
- Provide mechanical and bacterial protection
- Maintain a moist environment at the wound/dressing interface
- Allow gaseous and fluid exchange
- Remain nonadherent to the wound
- Safe in use - Nontoxic, nonsensitizing, and nonallergic (both to the patient and the medical personnel)
- Well acceptable to the patient (eg, providing pain relief and not influencing movement)
- Highly absorbable (for exuding wounds)
- Absorb wound odor
- Sterile
- Easy to use (can be applied by medical personnel or the patient)
- Require infrequent changing (if necessary)
- Available in a suitable range of forms and sizes
- Cost effective and covered by health insurance systems
Bioactive dressings include antimicrobial dressings, interactive dressings, single-component biologic dressings, and combination products.
Skin substitutes include epidermal substitutes (autologous or allogenic), acellular skin (dermis) substitutes (allogenic or xenogenic), autologous and allogenic skin, and skin substitutes containing living cells.
Different types of wounds require different dressings or combinations of dressings.
Dressing Categories Currently Marketed in the United States
(Open Table in a new window)
| Wound Dressings (Material Categories) | No. Products |
| Gauzes (woven and nonwoven) | 33 |
| Gauzes (impregnated) | 25 |
| Gauzes (nonadherent) | 13 |
| Gauzes (packing/debriding) | 17 |
| Compression bandages and system | 24 |
| Specialty absorptives | 17 |
| Composites | 20 |
| Wound fillers | 10 |
| Wound cleansers | 28 |
| Synthetic foams | 26 |
| Contact layers | 7 |
| Hydrocolloids | 41 |
| Hydrogels (amorphous) | 30 |
| Hydrogels (wafers) | 19 |
| Hydrogels (impregnated gauze) | 14 |
| Alginates | 26 |
| Collagen | 9 |
No comments:
Post a Comment