In contrast to conventional wound dressing materials, hydrogels contain 90% water entrapped in a three-dimensional, hydrophilic polymer network. What makes hydrogel dressings special is their ability to swell and retain moisture when they come in contact with surrounding liquids. As a result, they create a barrier and help maintain moisture around the wound. Their semi-occlusive nature allows wounds to stay hydrated. It also helps reduce wound pain and aids in autolytic debridement of dead and infected tissues. This leads to better granulation, cell migration, and overall wound healing.
In this article we explore the use and benefits of hydrogel dressings for chronic wound treatments. Chronic wounds are a major burden on the healthcare system, affecting millions of individuals globally. They are one of the most common reasons for patients’ reduced quality of life.
If you are new to Hydrogels, make sure to read our guide on Hydrogels for Medical Use.
Benefits of Hydrogel Dressings in Chronic Wound Healing
Synthetic (PVA, PEG, PU, PLGA) or naturally derived polymers such as cellulose and hyaluronic acid are commonly used in hydrogel dressing formulations. Hydrogel dressings are applied on a variety of chronic wounds because they offer many benefits.
Benefits of hydrogel dressings include:
- Allows for a moist wound environment
- Biocompatibility
- Non-irritating
- Provide a cooling effect to wounds
- Rehydrates dry necrotic wounds
- Aids in autolytic debridement
- Helps remove devitalized tissues that promote bacterial growth
- Encourages cell migration
Chronic Wounds that can be treated with Hydrogel Dressings
Generally, wounds that don’t start to heal within 4 to 12 weeks of the treatment are considered chronic. They occur in patients with physiological healing impairments. Such wounds may persist for weeks or even months.
Chronic wounds are cleaned and covered regularly. However, the wounds keep opening up or sometimes don’t heal at all. This may be due to improper blood circulation, a weak immune system, underlying medical conditions, or other factors.
Hydrogel dressings help boost the healing process and ensure recovery within the expected timeframe. They are best suited for chronic wounds that require a moist environment and gentle debridement.
Here is a quick list of chronic wounds that are a good fit to be treated with hydrogel dressings:
- Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Wounds on the feet, heels, or toes are common in diabetic patients. They become a serious issue due to improper blood circulation and diabetes-related nerve damage. When ulcers grow larger and deeper, they may lead to amputation and permanent loss. Hydrogel dressings are used with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) to help promote better granulation and cell migration.
- Pressure Ulcers: Prolonged pressure on the skin due to limited mobility, paralysis, and obesity leads to bedsores, a type of pressure ulcer. They may begin with non-blanchable redness and involve continuous tissue loss. Hydrogel dressings offer excellent cooling and significantly relieve pain while also aiding in healing pressure ulcers.
- Venous Leg Ulcers: Poor venous circulation leads to chronic wounds known as venous leg ulcers. This leads to breakdown of tissue, usually in the lower legs. Such wounds are mostly found just above the ankle. Hydrogel wound dressings promote autolytic debridement and keep these wounds hydrated.
- Arterial Ulcers: Arterial diseases limit blood supply to the respective body parts, leading to arterial skin ulcers. These wounds do not improve through the normal healing stages. Hydrogel dressings are used to promote cell migration and angiogenesis (formation of new blood vessels). Hydrogel dressings are also helpful in reducing inflammation and pain in the affected areas.
- Radiation-Related Wounds: Sometimes, radiation cancer treatments lead to chronic wounds, such as skin breakdown and open sores. These wounds may persist for a long time if not treated appropriately. Hydrogel dressings play a crucial role here by providing proper hydration and cooling to the affected area.
- Superficial Burns: Hydrogel dressings offer an excellent cooling and soothing effect when applied to superficial and second-degree burns. They can also significantly reduce the pain in the affected areas. This helps lead to improved patient comfort in addition to improved wound healing.
Types of Hydrogel Dressings
Hydrogel dressings are designed to hydrate wounds and improve autolytic debridement. Their main purpose is to create a barrier around the wound, keeping moisture around the wound bed, and helping the wounds heal better. All of these help to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.
These dressing can be either in solid or liquid form. Solid hydrogel dressings are rolled or sliced into sheets. Meanwhile, the liquid ones are directly injected or applied into the tissues or wound location.
There are three main types of hydrogel dressing formations:
1. Hydrogel Sheets
Hydrogel sheets are mostly transparent and highly comfortable. Their cooling and soothing effect on the skin makes them the preferred hydrogel dressing type for burns and superficial wounds.
Sheets form hydrogel dressings are available both with or without adhesive borders. Versions without adhesive borders require a secondary dressing in order for them to be effective over an extended period.
2. Amorphous Hydrogels
This is the most common type of hydrogel dressing. These are non-structured, gel-based hydrogel dressings. They can freely flow into deep wounds for better hydration. Amorphous hydrogel dressings soften and remove necrotic (dead) tissues from complex wounds with dry eschar.
This type of hydrogel dressings are used on a variety of wounds, such as full-thickness wounds, stage II-IV pressure ulcers, dermal ulcers, and skin tears.
It requires a gauze or other bandage type to keep the amorphous hydrogel dressing in place.
3. Impregnated Hydrogels
Impregnated hydrogel dressings are used on both deep and superficial wounds. In this type of dressing, amorphous hydrogels are dispersed into the gauze or sponges. They are directly applied to wounds using a secondary dressing that holds them in place. They mainly provide a moist environment to dry or minimally exuding wounds.
Hydromer® Hydrogels: Biocompatible and Highly Adaptive
Hydromer® is a custom medical device coatings and hydrogel manufacturer based in North Carolina. Our company specializes in advanced, custom formulations, including Hydrogels.
Our company uses only the highest quality ingredients to manufacture our medical use products. The result is excellent quality along with physical strength, stability, and biocompatibility. Hydromer Hydrogels are based on a variety of chemistries, such as hydrophilic polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polymers and chitosan derivatives.
But we do not just offer a set of off-the-shelf products. Rather, all of our hydrogels and medical coatings can be custom formulated to your needs. This ensures that we can formulate a solution to meet your specific product requirements.
Get In Touch with Hydromer
Our team includes highly qualified Ph.D. chemists, scientists, and regulatory experts. We can work with you to create custom hydrogel dressing formulations. But what really sets Hydromer apart from our competitors is our full-range of complimentary services. We can help you no matter what stage of the product development process you are in. Here is a quick list of services offered by Hydromer:
- Contract Research and Development (R&D) services
- Specialized Analytical Testing
- Custom Machine Building
- Turn-key Operations
- Technology Transfer Services
- Technical consulting and support services
Contact our team of experts now with any questions or to start your hydrogel project.
