Wound Dressings Update

ABSTRACT The availability of different types of wound dressings has increased in the last decade. Wound care practitioners have at their disposal an extensive range of dressings. Emerging dressing types include interactive/bioactive dressings and tissue‐engineered skin substitutes. There is no one dressing that is suitable for the management of all types of chronic wounds and few are suited for the treatment of a single wound during all stages of the healing cycle. Successful wound management depends on an understanding of the healing process combined with knowledge of the properties of the various dressings available. Without such knowledge and careful assessment of all the factors that effect healing, dressing selection is likely to be arbitrary and ineffective, wasteful both in terms of time and physical resources. This article is an overview of some of the first‐line and second‐line interactive/bioactive dressings available. A synopsis of wound assessment and wound bed preparation will aid in choosing the appropriate dressings. It will also touch on advanced technologies including tissue‐engineered skin substitutes.