Did you know that overuse of antibiotics can affect wound healing?

Harmful effects of overuse of antibiotics on wound healing:

Antibiotic resistance contributes to delayed wound healing and a corresponding spike in healthcare costs. Wounds are often contaminated with microorganisms such as bacteria, but they do not necessarily lead to infection. Healthy skin has some normal flora growing, and when a wound is formed, these normal florae migrate to the injury. If the conditions are ripe and the body's resistance is reduced, infection will occur.

But not all wounds require antibiotic treatment, only those showing clinical infection. Infections requiring antibiotic therapy and overuse of antibiotics are significant problems in difficult-to-heal damages. Unnecessary antibiotic use leads to the development of drug-resistant bacteria, side effects for patients, and high costs. Excessive anti-inflammatory drugs inhibit the inflammatory response period, resulting in the inability of neutrophils and macrophages to enter the wound tissue, and the activities of fibroblasts and epidermal cells are blocked; chemotherapy drugs reduce the number of inflammatory cells and platelets, and the related growth factors are insufficient; Large doses of adrenocortical hormones can significantly inhibit the formation of new capillaries, the proliferation of fibroblasts and collagen synthesis, and accelerate the decomposition of collagen fibers, resulting in poor healing; steroids stabilize lysosomal membranes and prevent proteolytic enzymes and other The release of inflammatory factors reduces the zinc content in the blood and affects wound healing.

Wet Healing Theory of Wounds:

The importance of Wound moisturization: In 1962, Dr. Winter in the United Kingdom confirmed in animal (pig) experiments that in a moderately moist environment, the cell regeneration ability and migration speed of wounds are faster, and the recovery speed is more than twice as fast as in an arid climate. For the first time, put forward the theory of wet healing. Wet healing uses wound dressings to keep the Wound moist with closed or semi-closed methods, increases the speed of cell growth and migration, accelerates wound healing, and prevents the formation of crusts.

Several new dressings can promote wound healing:

New functional wound dressing:

No single sauce is ideal for all damages when applying suitable wound dressings. Clinicians should evaluate each Wound and choose the most appropriate sauce on an individual basis for each wound condition. We need to comprehensively judge the size of the Wound, exudate, and infection. Available dressings can speed up wound healing and reduce scarring. In addition, wounds must be constantly monitored as their characteristics and dressing requirements change over time.

In addition to faster wound healing, wounds treated with occlusive dressings were associated with less noticeable scarring. A study using pigskin as a model found that damages covered with occlusive dressings had accelerated inflammatory and proliferative phases of the healing process compared with dry gauze. The "acceleration" of the entire wound healing phase may prevent the emergence of the chronic wound state, which typically stalls in the inflammatory phase of healing. Wounds with a lot of inflammation are more likely to result in more visible scarring, so reducing inflammation and proliferation through wound closure may also reduce the appearance of scarring.

Hydrocolloid Dressing:

Hydrocolloid dressings typically consist of a gel or foam on a self-adhesive polyurethane film carrier. The gelatinous component of this dressing absorbs exudates and creates a moist environment. Bacteria and tissue debris are absorbed and rinsed with gentle, painless mechanical debridement during dressing changes.

Hydrogel Dressing:

It is a sheet of various synthetic polymer matrices with a water content exceeding 95%; the gel is applied directly to the Wound, sometimes with an additional layer of adhesive dressing. It can provide moisture to dry wounds. Hydrogels are permeable to gas and water, so they are less effective at shielding bacteria than hydrocolloid or membrane dressings. The hydrogel with high water content is easy to dehydrate and dry, and the hydrogel has a good analgesic effect because of the cooling effect. Most hydrogel dressings are non-adherent and often require the use of two layers of sauce. Hydrogel dressings are most useful for dry wounds. The first lower the ambient temperature of the Wound they cover and, in some patients, can act as a cold compress to relieve pain.

Foam Dressing:

Foam dressings are highly absorbent, soft, flexible, conformable, and non-adherent to wounds. The primary role is to absorb exudate and maintain a moist healing environment. Foam dressings are manufactured in different shapes and sizes to suit a variety of anatomical sites and wound conditions and are available with or without adhesive edges. Dressings without adhesive borders must be fixed with tape or bandages, while foam dressings with sticky edges can adhere to the skin around the Wound, but the surrounding skin must be kept intact. Specially shaped foam dressings are generally adhesive-edged for specific anatomical areas such as the sacrococcygeal, elbow, or heel.

Alginate Dressing:

Natural complex polysaccharides obtained from various algae are the main components of alginate dressings. Their role as dressings is unique in that they are insoluble in water. Still, in the environment of sodium ion-rich wound exudate, these complexes can exchange sodium ions for calcium ions, forming an amorphous gel that fills and covers Wound. Alginate dressings can be made into various shapes, such as strips, balls, and blocks. Their absorption capacity ranges depending on the type of polysaccharide used. Overall, this type of dressing is more suitable for moderately to heavily exuding wounds. It also has a hemostatic effect, it can be used for wound filling, and most can be rinsed off with saline to minimize pain during replacement.

Because of its convenience in use, the novel wound dressing can be made into the shape of the Wound and combined with its characteristics to create an ideal sauce. The new wound dressing improves patient comfort and is therefore easy for the patient to accept.

For more information on Innomed® dressings, refer to the previous articles. If you have customized needs, you are welcome to contact us; we will serve you wholeheartedly.

At Longterm Medical, we transform this data by innovating and developing products that make life easier for those who need loving care.

Editor: kiki Jia

Date: July6,2022