Surgical Dressings and Wound Management

Table of Contents

1. STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF SKIN
- Structure of skin
- Formation of skin
- Skin as a barrier to moisture
- Potentiation of skin damage by body fluids

2. CLASSIFICATION OF WOUNDS
- Definition of a wound
- Wound classification systems

3. WOUNDS: COUNTING THE COST
- Introduction
- Cost of treating 'chronic' wounds
- Containing treatment costs

4. MECHANISMS OF WOUND HEALING
- Introduction
- Wound management techniques
- Monitoring progress towards healing
- Problems associated with wound healing

5. WOUND EXUDATE
- Introduction
- Properties of exudate
- Exudate as a diagnostic aid
- Exudate handling mechanisms
- Management of exudate in clinical practice

6. THE DEVELOPMENT OF DRESSINGS
- Introduction
- Early wound dressings
- Dressings and moist wound healing
- The 'ideal' dressing

7. LABORATORY TESTING OF SURGICAL DRESSINGS
- Introduction
- Importance of laboratory testing
- Standards for dressings
- Fluid handling tests
- Fluid affinity testing
- Low-adherence
- Conformability
- Microbiological tests

- Odour control
- Biological tests

8. LOW-ADHERENT DRESSINGS
- Impregnated fabric dressings
- Alternative forms of low-adherent dressings

9. FILM DRESSINGS
- Introduction 139
- Examples of modern film dressings
- Properties of film dressings
- Experimental studies
- Clinical experience with film dressings

10. FOAM DRESSINGS
- Introduction
- History of foam dressings
- Classification of foam dressings
- Key properties of foam dressings
- Clinical experience with foam dressings

11. POLYSACCHARIDE FIBRE DRESSINGS
- Introduction
- Alginate dressings
- Clinical experience with alginate dressings
- Carboxymethylcellulose dressings
- Hyaluronan
- Chitin and chitosan
- Bacterial cellulose
- Oxidised cellulose
- Current status of polysaccharide fibre dressings

12. HYDROCOLLOID DRESSINGS
- Introduction 301
- Development of hydrocolloid dressings
- Physical properties
- Experimental studies
- Microbiological considerations
- Clinical experience with hydrocolloid dressings

13. POLYSACCHARIDE BEADS
- Introduction
- Structure and mode of action
- Effect upon wound healing
- Clinical experience

14. HYDROGELS AND XEROGELS
- Introduction
- Properties of hydrogels

- Hydrogel sheet dressings
- Amorphous hydrogel dressings
- Xerogels 422

15. HONEY AND SUGAR DRESSINGS
- Introduction
- Sugar as a wound dressing
- Honey as a wound dresssing

16. SILVER DRESSINGS
- Introduction
- Properties of silver dressings
- Toxicity of silver dressings
- Clinical experience with silver dressings
- Resistance to silver dressings
- Conclusions

17. ODOUR CONTROLLING DRESSINGS
- Introduction
- Activated charcoal dressings
- Clinical experience with charcoal dressings

18. SILICONE DRESSINGS FOR SCAR TREATMENT
- Introduction
- Commercial silicone dressings
- Clinical experience with silicone dressings

19. MAGGOT THERAPY
- Background to maggot therapy
- History of maggot therapy
- Basic biology of Lucilia sericata
- Production and use of medical maggots
- Method of application
- Mechanism of action
- Early accounts of the use of maggot therapy
- Modern maggot therapy
- Contraindications and side effects
- Examples illustrating the use of maggots in clinical practice
- Practical problems associated with maggot therapy
- Maggots in veterinary practice
- Myths and legends related to maggot therapy

20. NEGATIVE PRESSURE WOUND THERAPY
- Historical background
- Development of NPWT
- Method of use
- Clinical experience with NPWT
- Cost implications of treatment
- Comparisons between NWPT systems

- mode of action
- The future of NPWT

21. DRESSING SELECTION
- Factors that impact upon dressing selection
- Black necrotic wounds
- Yellow sloughy wounds
- Red granulating wounds
- Pink epithelializing wounds
- Malignant wounds
- Infected wounds

22. BUYER'S GUIDE
- List of products in alphabetical order
- Manufacturers' contact details

23. INDEX