A clot-inducing wound covering with high vapor permeability: enhancing effects on epidermal wound healing in partial-thickness wounds in guinea pigs.

Although the use of an occlusive wound covering accelerates the reepithelialization of a partial-thickness wound, it has the disadvantage of leading to wound exudate accumulation. The effect of an experimental polyetherurethane (PEU) wound covering with a high vapor permeability was compared with an occlusive wound covering (OpSite covering) and air exposure with respect to the rate of reepithelialization, eventual epidermal thickness, and scab thickness in 122 partial-thickness wounds in guinea pigs. The percentage of reepithelialization on day 2 was 85% in wounds covered with the permeable PEU membrane, whereas it was 66% and 35%, respectively, in wounds covered with the occlusive covering or exposed to air. The epidermal thickness did not differ among the three types of treatment. The scab thickness, however, was maximal in the uncovered air-exposed wounds. We conclude that epidermal wound healing is accelerated when the PEU wound covering is used. This wound-healing-promotion effect is apparently due to the high water vapor permeability of PEU, which induces clotting of the wound exudate, and subsequent jellifying of the clot layer.