Novel antibiotic-eluting wound dressings: an in vitro study and engineering aspects in the dressing's design.

Wound dressings aim to restore the milieu required for skin regeneration by protecting the wound from environmental threats, including penetration of bacteria, and by maintaining a moist healing environment. A wide variety of wound dressing products targeting various types of wounds and different aspects of the wound healing process are currently available on the market. Ideally, a dressing should be easy to apply and remove, and its design should meet both physical and mechanical requirements; namely water absorbance and transmission rate, handleability and strength. In this article, our novel biodegradable antibiotic-eluting wound dressings are described and the engineering aspects in the design are emphasized. These unique new wound dressings are based on a polyglyconate mesh, coated with a porous Poly(dl-lactic-co-glycolic acid) matrix. They demonstrated excellent mechanical and physical properties and desired release profiles of antibiotic drugs which enable bacterial inhibition. Hence, a new generation of wound dressings is now emerging with clear benefits. These include better protection against infection and reducing the need for frequent dressing changing. Copyright 2009 Tissue Viability Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.