High performance textiles for wound care

Key words wound, debridement, dressing, antibacterial, antiodour, venous leg ulcer, padding bandage, compression bandage, spacer fabric bandage. 

Wounds can be classified into acute wounds and chronic wounds. While acute wounds take only a few weeks to heal, chronic wounds require several months to heal completely. Chronic wounds include venous leg ulcers and pressure sores. The classification of wounds and healing process is depicted in Figs 6.1 and 6.2. Generally, the wound healing process involves three phases  

The care and treatment of wounds are matters of clinical judgement. The wounds should first be examined, to determine the amount of exudate and infection that exists. In addition, the surrounding tissue should be assessed to establish the extent of ulceration. The first stage of treatment (debridement) often requires the removal of foreign material and dead tissue from the wound, in order to prevent infection and promote healing. Subsequent 

1 Classification of wounds and healing process. Further classification of wounds 

There are a variety of methods that can be used to debride a wound, including autolytic, chemical, mechanical, and surgical. Autolytic debridement utilises the body s own enzymes and moisture to dissolve and clean the wound of necrotic tissue. This method has the advantage of being virtually painless for the patient, but can take many weeks to achieve. A moist wound environment is the key factor to autolytic debridement, and is obtained by using occlusive or semi-occlusive wound dressings. 

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