Novel biodegradable composite wound dressings with controlled release of antibiotics: microstructure, mechanical and physical properties.

Wound dressings aim to restore the milieu required for skin regeneration and protect the wound from environmental threats, including penetration of bacteria. The dressings should be easy to apply and remove and maintain a moist healing environment. In this study, novel biodegradable composite wound dressings based on a polyglyconate mesh and a porous PDLGA binding matrix were developed and studied. These novel dressings were prepared by dip-coating woven meshes in inverted emulsions, followed by freeze-drying. Their investigation focused on the microstructure, mechanical and physical properties, and the release profile of the antibiotic drug ceftazidime from the binding matrix. The mechanical properties of our wound-dressing structures were found to be superior, combining relatively high tensile strength and ductility, which changed only slightly during 3 weeks of incubation in an aqueous medium. The parameters of the inverted emulsion, the organic-aqueous phase ratio, and the type of surfactant used for stabilizing the emulsion were found to affect the microstructure of the binding matrix and the resulting properties, i.e., water absorbance, water vapor transmission rate, and drug-release profile from the binding matrix. Appropriate selection of these parameters can yield composite structures that have the desired physical properties and drug release behavior. Thus, these unique structures are potentially very useful as burn and ulcer dressings. (c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.