Wound dressing alginates

Dextrans are particularly useful and are employed as a plasma substitute. A concentration of about 6% dextran (50,000-100,000 relative molecular weight) has equivalent viscosity and colloid-osmotic properties to blood plasma. Dextran can also be used as non-irritant absorbent wound dressings, an application also suited to alginate gels. 

As with carrageenan, another seaweed extract, the ability to bind to calcium makes alginates useful in dairy products as a thickener. It also makes alginates useful as wound dressings, where they absorb fluids, and stop bleeding, and act as a scaffold. 

The in vitro biocompatibihty of wound dressings in regards to fibroblasts has been assessed and compared with three commercial wound dressings made of collagen, alginate and gelatin. Methylpyrrolidinone chitosan and collagen were found to be the most compatible materials [305,306],... 

Substances that are used in wound dressings include hydrogels, hydrocolloids, alginates, and polyurethane foams. Medicaments that they contain include wool wax alcohols (amerchol, cetearyl alcohol, propylene glycol), plant resins/ethereal oils (balsam of Peru, colophony, fragrance mix, propolis), and topical antibiotics. 

Qin Y, Gilding DK. Alginate fibres and wound dressings. Med Device Technol 1996 Nov 32-41. 

A brief review is presented of the chemical stmctures of alginate and chitosan and their performances of novel biomaterials were compared. Their uses in wound-dressing materials are outlined and binding with metal ions and antimicrobial properties are mentioned. 13 refs. 

A.THOMAS, K.G.HARDING, K. MOORE, Alginates from wound dressings activate human macrophages to secrete tumor necrosis factor-a , Biomateriasl, 21 (2000) 1797-1802... 

Motta GJ. Calcium alginate topical wound dressings a new dimension in the cost-effective treatment for exudating dermal wounds and pressure sores. Ostomy Wound Manage 1989 25 52-56. 

Wang, L., Khor, E., Wee, A. and Lim, L. Y, Chitosan-alginate PEC membrane as a wound dressing assessment of incisional wound healing, /. Biomed. Mater. Res., Appl. Biomater., 63, 610, 2002. 

Textile materials can be used in moist wound management as fibres themselves (advanced fibres such as alginate and chitosan fibres), or conventional/advanced fibres can be modified or coated with various substances such as honey or hydrogels to obtain special properties such as ultra-absorbency, drag release, etc. In general, textiles used in wound-dressing products come in all possible forms, including fibres, nanofibres, filaments, yarns, and woven/knitted/non-woven and composite materials. 

Knill, C.J., Kennedy, J.F., Mistry, J., Miraftab, M., Smart, G., Groocock, M.R., Williams, HJ., 2004. Alginate fibres modified with unhydrolysed and hydrolysed chitosans for wound dressings. Carbohydrate Polymers 55 (1), 65—76. 

Alginate is widely used in separation, food, textile, and paper applications. Moreover, due to its biocompatibility, alginate has been extensively used in the biomedical field as a drug delivery material [34, 35], a wound dressing [36], a scaffold [37, 38] and for cell encapsulation [39]. Therefore, the BC-alginate composite has been extensively studied in many fields. Comparative characteristics of BC-alginate composites prepared from various methods are shown in Table 14.1. 

W. Paul, C.P Sharma, Chitosan and alginate wound dressings a short review. Trends Biomater. Artif Organs 18 (1) (2004) 18-23. 

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