Winter’s concept of moist wound healing: a review of the evidence and impact on clinical practice

Traditional dressings such as gauze and paraffin or vaseline-impregnated tulle gauze allow the wound to dry out, often resulting in trauma to the healing epidermis at dressing changes. Furthermore, they do not prevent bacterial transmission. More modern dressings have been developed to incorporate an element of moisture retention to the wound, in keeping with Winter’s theory on moist wound healing. This literature review examines Winter’s famous study and explores the concept behind his theory. The physiological affects of moisture retention on healing in superficial wounds are discussed, with a view to correlating this to dermal wounds.