Are modern wound dressings a clinical and cost-effective alternative to the use of gauze?

I t1960s t o la dmark tu ies stablished the concept of moist wound healing and heralded the development of modern dressings.1,2 However, despite the publication of a number of systematic reviews,3-6 there is na consensus on which dressings are most clinically and cast effective. This is due in part to the difficulty of conducting large randomised controlled trials (RCTs) as patients with wounds are not a heterogeneous group and aften have complex underlying pathologies. It is also ethically questionable to conduct trials with dressings such as gauze that fail to provide optimal healing conditions.Ho This article reviews the evidence comparing the use, in clinical practice, of gauze and different generic groups of modern dressings, to assess their clinical benefits and cast effectiveness. The major l ctronic tabases (EMBASE, Medli e nd Cinahl) were searched, as were congress abstracts and presentations, for clinical studies and case reports on the use of dressings in clinical practice. The search s nducted ing e Cochrane Wo nds Group