What is a functional wound dressing?

Functional dressings refer to medical materials used to cover sores, wounds or other damages. They are the future development direction of the industry - new medical dressings, which are widely used in clinical practice.

Skin injuries caused by wounds, burns, abscesses and ulcers will cause a series of problems in the body, such as bacterial infection, excessive loss of water and protein, endocrine and immune dysfunction, etc., which may be life-threatening in serious cases. Therefore, after skin injury, it is usually necessary to use a skin substitute medical dressing to protect the wound, prevent wound infection and severe dehydration, provide a moist environment conducive to wound healing, and promote wound healing.

New medical dressings are developed according to the "wet healing theory", which can keep the wound moist. There are two factors that promote the development of such products, namely, the medical community's understanding of the wound healing process and the continuous development of material technology. Representative new medical dressings include: transparent film dressings, hydrocolloid dressings, alginate dressings, foam dressings, silicone gel dressings, silver ion dressings, carbon fiber dressings, and hydrogels. The new medical dressing can shorten the wound healing time, reduce the amount of medical dressing, significantly shorten the nursing time, and meet the requirements of patients. The characteristics of the new medical dressings, such as fast curative effect and good effect, are incomparable with traditional dressings. Therefore, the new medical dressings will have a larger application market.
Although from a global perspective, traditional medical dressings such as cotton wool and gauze still account for more than 50% of the entire medical dressing. However, the growth of traditional medical dressings is slow, and new functional medical dressings are growing rapidly. In the long run, traditional gauze, bandages, etc. consume a lot of cotton, but the product benefits are not high, the added value is low, the profit margin is small, and the product growth capacity is limited.

A. Medical hydrocolloid dressings: Hydrocolloid dressings are made of hypoallergenic water-like adhesives that contact wounds. On contact with the wound surface, the hydrocolloid dressing creates a moist healing environment that reduces pain, forms a moist gel, inhibits bacterial infection and promotes wound healing.
Adaptation:
1. It is especially suitable for chronic wounds that cannot be cured for a long time, as well as complex and time-consuming tissue regeneration treatment and prevention.
2. Venous ulcers, second-degree burns, skin graft donor sites, and pressure ulcers.

B. Alginate dressing: extracted from all-natural precious brown seaweed. It is rich in mannuronic acid and calcium ions, and forms a moist gel through the complete replacement of calcium-sodium ions. At the same time, due to the release of calcium ions, it participates in hemostasis as a coagulation factor and accelerates hemostasis. The formation of the gel layer on the surface of the wound plays a continuous role in decontamination of the wound, and keeps the wound at a certain humidity and temperature, creating a good microenvironment for the healing of the wound and promoting the early healing of the wound.
Adaptation:
1. General surgery, burn plastic surgery, anorectal, obstetrics and gynecology, tumor surgery, orthopedics, ENT, endocrinology, stomatology and other departments.
2. All injuries and bleeding wounds, such as postoperative incisions, skin donor sites, skin abrasions and lacerations, epidermal and local burns, etc.
3. Deep cavities, sinuses, and sneak wounds with moderate or severe exudates, such as oozing blood from anal fistula, hemostasis after tooth extraction, ENT surgery, etc.
4. Chronic wounds, such as bedsores, diabetic foot, lower extremity venous and arterial ulcers, etc.

C. Transparent film dressing: a new ultra-thin and comfortable dressing produced by contemporary international high-tech. It is a special semi-permeable film with good waterproof, mildew-proof, breathable, hypoallergenic, transparent, high elasticity It is widely used in the fixation of venous, arterial catheters or instruments, and can cover damaged skin and wound care. It is a must for skin beauty protection, home standing medicine cabinets, military training exercises, on-site first aid in wartime, and factory construction sites. 
Scope of application:
1. Peripheral vein indwelling needle fixation
2. Central venous indwelling needle fixation
3. Epidural anesthesia catheter fixation
4. Nursing care of various skin injuries without exudate wounds
5. It can be used with primary dressings such as calcium alginate as secondary dressings for chronic wounds such as burns, bedsores and ulcers.