An Up-to-Date Review of Biomaterials Application in Wound Management

Abstract

Whether they are caused by trauma, illness, or surgery, wounds may occur throughout anyone's life. Some injuries' complexity and healing difficulty pose important challenges in the medical field, demanding novel approaches in wound management. A highly researched possibility is applying biomaterials in various forms, ranging from thin protective films, foams, and hydrogels to scaffolds and textiles enriched with drugs and nanoparticles. The synergy of biocompatibility and cell proliferative effects of these materials is reflected in a more rapid wound healing rate and improved structural and functional properties of the newly grown tissue. This paper aims to present the biomaterial dressings and scaffolds suitable for wound management application, reviewing the most recent studies in the field.

Keywords: alginates; biomaterial scaffolds; biomaterials; foam dressings; hydroactive dressings; hydrocolloids; hydrogels; semi-permeable films; wound dressings; wound management.

Figure 1

Distinct and overlapping phases of wound healing. Reprinted from an open-access source [20].

Figure 2

Wound classification. Created based on information from [21].

Figure 3

Wound dressing classification. Created based on information from [12,26,27].

Figure 4

Main properties expected from an ideal modern wound dressing. Created based on information from [4,23,28].

Figure 5

Classification and examples of polymers used for fabricating biomaterial scaffolds. Created based on information from [115,118,120,121,122,123,124,125,126]. Abbreviations: PCL—poly (ε-caprolactone), PLA—polylactic acid, PLGA—poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), PAM—polyacrylamide, PHB—poly-3-hydroxybutyrate, PUR—polyurethane.