In Vitro Characterisation and Evaluation of Different Types of Wound Dressing Materials

In recent years, textile based wound dressing products have grown from simple gauze to smart dressings with considerable technical and commercial impact. Today, wound dressings are manufactured from a large variety of different materials and applied in all phases of wound healing. In this study, commercially available wound dressing products were investigated and compared in vitro. The dressings tested and evaluated vary in their components and structures and basically fell into three main groups: nonwoven, foam and hydroactive dressing products. This study tested and analysed the properties of 13 different commercial dressings: 5 nonwoven, 5 foam and 3 hydroactive dressings. Standard test methods were employed during the study in order to determine the fluid handling capability, dehydration rate, vertical wicking, absorption behaviour and pH values of the dressings. These characteristics have profound effect on the performance of the dressings as wound care biomedical materials. It was found that the nonwoven fibrous dressings have better absorbency characteristics than foam and hydroactive dressings and the nonwoven dressings also had lower pH value compared to the foam and hydroactive dressings.