Modern Commercial Wound Dressings and Introducing New Wound Dressings for Wound Healing: A Review

The skin is the largest organ in the body which protects the internal organs against external injury. When the skin is damaged, microorganisms attack easily and cause infection in humans. Many efforts have been made for development of new products to protect the skin from damage and dehydration. Because of the diversity in the wound dressing products, one may possibly be confused when choosing a suitable wound dressing. Although, protection of the wound from infection is one of the reasons for using a wound dressing, acceleration of wound healing process is the main goal. In this paper, we have reviewed several types of modern wound dressings regarding their efficiency in each stage of wound healing. Commercial wound dressings in the form of hydrogels, hydrocolloids, films, foams and nanofibers are introduced and their properties are discussed. Chitosan, alginate and honey are the main common polysaccharides which are usually used as wound dressing materials. The effect of these polysaccharides on wound healing is also described. Finally, the recently developed smart wound dressings which are able to detect the wound infection are presented.