Wound Dressing

Wound Dressing PINEDA, Czarina RAMOS, Christine Joyce RAMOS-YEO, Andrea

Definition • Adjunct used by a person for application to a wound to promote healing and/or prevent further harm • Designed to be in direct contact with the wound, which makes it different from a bandage, which is primarily used to hold a dressing in place

Characteristics of an Ideal Dressing • 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 • Well acceptable to the patient • Highly absorbable (for exuding wounds) • Absorb wound odor • Sterile • Easy to use • Require infrequent changing (if necessary) • Available in a suitable range of forms and sizes • Cost effective

Types Gauze • Cotton, rayon or polyester • Woven 

– Fine mesh cotton gauze - for packing – Coarse mesh cotton gauze used for nonselective debridement

• Can adhere to the wound surface and disrupt the wound bed when removed • Use only in minor wounds or as secondary dressing

Semi-permeable film • Sterile sheet of polyurethane coated with acrylic adhesive • Transparent allowing wound checks • Suitable for shallow wound with low exudate 

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Tegaderm, OpSite

Hydrocolloid • Use in wounds with light to heavy • Carboxymethylcellul exudate, ose, gelatin, sloughing or pectin, granulating elastomers and wounds adhesives that  turn into a gel when exudate is  absorbed  • Provides warm,  moist environment that promotes 

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Hydrogel • Composed mainly of water in a complex network that keep the polymer gel intact • Keeps the wound moist • Use for necrotic or sloughy wound beds to rehydrate and remove dead 

• Do not use for moderate to heavily exudating wounds

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Alginate • Composed of calcium alginate • When in contact with wound, calcium is exchanged with sodium from wound fluid and this turns dressing into a gel that maintains a 

• Good for exudating wounds and helps in debridement of sloughing wounds • Do not use on low exudating wounds as this will cause dryness and scabbing    

Kaltostat Sorbsan 

Polyurethane or silicone foams • Designed to absorb large amounts of exudates • Maintain a moist wound environment but are not as useful as alginates or hydrocolloids for debridement 

• Do not use on low exudating wounds as this will cause dryness and scabbing         