A medical dressing is a wound covering, medical material used to cover sores, wounds, or other injuries. There are many types of medical dressings, including natural gauze, synthetic fiber dressings, polymeric membrane dressings, foaming polymeric dressings, hydrocolloid dressings, alginate dressings, etc. It can be divided into traditional dressings, closed or semi-closed dressings and bioactive dressings. Traditional dressings mainly include gauze, synthetic fiber cloth, vaseline gauze and petroleum wax gauze, etc. Closed or semi-closed dressings mainly include transparent film dressings, hydrocolloid dressings, alginate dressings, hydrogel dressings and foam dressings. Bioactive dressings include silver ion dressings, chitosan dressings and iodine dressings.
The function of medical treatment is to protect or replace the damaged skin until the wound is healed and the skin is healed. It can:
Resist mechanical factors (such as dirt, collision, inflammation, etc.), pollution and chemical stimulation
To prevent secondary infection
Prevent dryness and fluid loss (electrolyte loss)
Prevent heat loss
In addition to the comprehensive protection of the wound, it can also actively affect the wound healing process through debridement and create a microenvironment to promote wound healing.
Natural gauze:
(Cotton pad) This is the earliest and most widely used type of dressing.
Advantages:
1) Strong and fast absorption of wound exudate
2) The production and processing process is relatively simple
Disadvantages:
1) Too high permeability, easy to dehydrate the wound
2) The adhesive wound will cause recurrent mechanical damage when it is replaced
3) It is easy for microorganisms in the external environment to pass through and the chance of cross infection is high
4) Large dosage, frequent replacement, time-consuming, and painful patients
Due to the decrease of natural resources, the cost of gauze is gradually increasing. Therefore, in order to avoid excessive use of natural resources, polymer materials (synthetic fibers) are used to process medical dressings, which is synthetic fiber dressings.
2. Synthetic fiber dressing:
Such dressings have the same advantages as gauze, such as economy and good absorbability, etc. Moreover, some products are self-adhesive, making them very convenient to use. However, this kind of product also has the same disadvantages as gauze, such as high permeability, no barrier to particle pollutants in the external environment, etc..
3. Polymeric membrane dressings:
This is a kind of advanced dressing, with oxygen, water vapor and other gases can be freely permeated, while particulate foreign matter in the environment, such as dust and microorganisms, cannot pass through.
Advantages:
1) Block the invasion of environmental microorganisms to prevent cross infection
2) It is moisturizing, so that the wound surface is moist and will not stick to the wound surface, so as to avoid the recurrence of mechanical damage during replacement
3) Self-adhesive, easy to use, and transparent, easy to observe the wound
Disadvantages:
1) Poor ability to absorb ooze
2) Relatively high cost
3) There is a large chance of maceration of the skin around the wound, so this kind of dressing is mainly applied to the wound with little exudation after surgery, or as an auxiliary dressing of other dressings.
4. Foam polymer dressings
This is a kind of dressing made by foaming polymer material (PU), the surface is often covered with a layer of poly semipermeable film, some also have self-adhesive. The main
Advantages:
1) Fast and powerful absorption capacity of exudate
2) Low permeability to keep the wound surface moist and avoid repeated mechanical damage when dressing is changed
3) The barrier performance of the surface semi-permeable film can prevent the invasion of environmental granular foreign matter such as dust and microorganisms, and prevent cross infection
4) Easy to use, good compliance, can be suitable for all parts of the body
5) Heat insulation heat preservation, buffer external impulse
Disadvantages:
1) Due to its strong absorption performance, the debridement process of low-degree exudation wound may be affected
2) Relatively high cost
3) Due to opacity, it is not convenient to observe the wound surface
5. Hydrocolloid dressings:
Its main component is a hydrocolloid with very strong hydrophilic ability – sodium carboxymethyl cellulose particles (CMC), hypoallergenic medical adhesives, elastomers, plasticizers and other components together constitute the main body of dressing, its surface is a layer of semi-permeable poly membrane structure. The dressing can absorb the exudate after contacting the wound and form a gel to avoid the dressing sticking to the wound. At the same time, the semi-permeable membrane structure of the surface allows the exchange of oxygen and water vapor, but also has a barrier to external particles such as dust and bacteria.
Advantages:
1) It can absorb exudate from wound surface and some toxic substances
2) Keep the wound moist and retain the bioactive substances released by the wound itself, which can not only provide an optimal microenvironment for wound healing, but also accelerate the process of wound healing
3) Debridement effect
4) Gels are formed to protect exposed nerve endings and reduce pain while changing dressings without causing recurrent mechanical damage
5) Self-adhesive, easy to use
6) Good compliance, users feel comfortable, and hidden appearance
7) Prevent the invasion of external granular foreign bodies such as dust and bacteria, change dressings less times, so as to reduce the labor intensity of nursing staff
8) Costs can be saved by accelerating wound healing
Disadvantages:
1) The absorption capacity is not very strong, so for highly exudative wounds, other auxiliary dressings are often needed to enhance the absorption capacity
2) High product cost
3) Individual patients may be allergic to the ingredients
It can be said that this is a kind of ideal dressing, and decades of clinical experience in foreign countries shows that hydrocolloid dressing has a particularly prominent effect on chronic wounds.
6. Alginate dressing:
Alginate dressing is one of the most advanced medical dressings. The main component of alginate dressing is alginate, which is a natural polysaccharide carbohydrate extracted from seaweed and a natural cellulose.
Alginate medical dressing is a functional wound dressing with high absorbability composed of alginate. When the medical film comes into contact with wound exudate, it forms a soft gel that provides an ideal moist environment for wound healing, promotes wound healing and relieves wound pain.
Advantages:
1) Strong and fast ability to absorb exudate
2) Gel can be formed to keep the wound moist and not stick to the wound, protect the exposed nerve endings and relieve pain
3) Promote wound healing;
4) Can be biodegradable, good environmental performance;
5) Reduce scar formation;
Disadvantages:
1) Most products are not self-adhesive and need to be fixed with auxiliary dressings
2) Relatively high cost
• Each of these dressings has its own advantages and disadvantages, and each of them has its own standards for implementation during the production process to ensure the safety of the dressing. The following are the industry standards for various medical dressings in China:
YYT 0148-2006 General requirements for medical adhesive tapes
YYT 0331-2006 Performance requirements and test methods of absorbent cotton gauze and absorbent cotton viscose blended gauze
YYT 0594-2006 General requirements for surgical gauze dressings
YYT 1467-2016 Medical dressing aid bandage
YYT 0472.1-2004 Test methods for medical nonwovens – Part 1: Nonwovens for the production of compresses
YYT 0472.2-2004 Test methods for medical nonwoven dressings – Part 2: Finished dressings
YYT 0854.1-2011 100% cotton nonwovens – Performance requirements for surgical dressings – Part 1: nonwovens for dressing production
YYT 0854.2-2011 All cotton nonwovens surgical dressings – Performance requirements – Part 2: Finished dressings
YYT 1293.1-2016 Contact invasive face accessories – Part 1: Vaseline gauze
YYT 1293.2-2016 Contact wound dressings — Part 2: Polyurethane foam dressings
YYT 1293.4-2016 Contact wound dressings — Part 4: Hydrocolloid dressings
YYT 1293.5-2017 Contact wound dressings — Part 5: Alginate dressings
YY/T 1293.6-2020 Contact wound dressings — Part 6: Mussel mucin dressings
YYT 0471.1-2004 Test methods for contact wound dressings – Part 1: liquid absorbability
YYT 0471.2-2004 Test methods for contact wound dressings – Part 2: Water vapor permeability of permeable membrane dressings
YYT 0471.3-2004 Test methods for contact wound dressings – Part 3: Water resistance
YYT 0471.4-2004 Test methods for contact wound dressings — Part 4: comfort
YYT 0471.5-2004 Test methods for contact wound dressings – Part 5: Bacteriostasis
YYT 0471.6-2004 Test methods for contact wound dressings – Part 6: Odor control
YYT 14771-2016 Standard test model for evaluation of performance of contact wound dressings – Part 1: In vitro wound model for evaluation of antibacterial activity
YYT 1477.2-2016 Standard test model for evaluation of performance of contact wound dressings – Part 2: Evaluation of wound healing promotion performance
YYT 1477.3-2016 Standard test model for evaluation of performance of contact wound dressings – Part 3: In vitro wound model for evaluation of fluid control performance
YYT 1477.4-2017 Standard test model for evaluation of performance of contact wound dressings — Part 4: In vitro model for evaluation of potential adhesion of wound dressings
YYT 1477.5-2017 Standard test model for evaluation of performance of contact wound dressings — Part 5: In vitro model for evaluation of hemostatic performance
Standard test model for evaluation of performance of contact wound dressings — Part 6: Animal model of refractory wound with type 2 diabetes for evaluation of wound healing promoting performance
Post time: Jul-04-2022