Wet-to-dry Wound Care Dressings: Disadvantages & Alternatives

1. Wet-to-dry Wound Care Dressings: Disadvantages & Alternatives Wet-to-dry dressings have been used by wound care practitioners for decades as a standard wound treatment method for many wounds. However, in the present, this treatment method is being rarely used by surgeons and is getting outdated as it has various downsides. Take A Closer Look At Gauze Dressings Wet-to-dry dressings are a non-selective type of mechanical debridement, a method of removing damaged or dead tissues from the wound. When wound care experts apply gauze dressing to cover a patient's wound, they are leaving a wet dressing on the wounds. When it gets dried, they take the dressing off gently and remove the dead tissues from the wound to accelerate the wound healing process. A gauze dressing is mostly used in treating wound drainage. There is a big debate in regards to the use of wet-to-dry dressings due to the use of gauze. It is a thin, translucent fabric that comes with a loose open weave structure to ensure stability. A wide variety of gauze dressings are available in the market to choose from. Some gauze dressings have a soft texture while some have rough where the little fibers of the gauze dressing can embed in the wounds and can make the condition worse. Downsides/Disadvantages of Using Gauze Dressing This form of mechanical debridement comes with several disadvantages. Some of them are as follows: 1. It causes pain & suffering in the patients while taking it off to remove damaged tissues. As the gauze is pulled from the wound site, it also pulls away tissues that have been damaged during the drying process. But sometimes, it also includes newly formed healthy tissues, that further causes trauma and additional bleeding in the wounds as well as increased pain. 2. The process of changing wound dressing can affect the wound site and can lead to hypoxia, vasoconstriction, cooling, and re-injury to tissues. 3. The strands of the gauze dressing or other particles may leave in the wounds. 4. Removal of wet-to-dry dressings can expose wounds to the bacteria in the air. 5. Wound site temperature is cooled. 6. Increased infection rates.

2. Despite the drawbacks of wet-to-dry dressings, it is still being used during the inflammatory stage of wound healing. It affects the healing process and also increases the risk of soft tissue infection and osteomyelitis. Alternatives to Wet-to-dry Wound Care Dressings These days, wound care specialists are using impregnated forms of gauze dressings, such as gauze containing substances such as petroleum, honey, hydrogel, iodine, bismuth, and zinc. It can decrease the risks of trauma and prevent desiccation while changing the dressing. Clinicians are also using these dressings to prevent moisture loss from the wounds. They are readily available in the market. It can also be a cost-effective treatment method than using gauze as it cuts back the time required for the application of the dressings. While selecting an appropriate wound dressing, make sure that: 1. It should maintain an optimal moist wound healing environment.

3. 2. Provide gas exchange 3. Fights with bacteria 4. Protect wounds from further trauma 5. Easy to remove and change regularly 6. Biocompatible, biodegradable and nontoxic. 7. Cost-effective etc. Debridement These are some other forms of debridement that can be used in the inflammatory stage of wound healing: 1. The Selective Methods - It includes autolytic, enzymatic, and biological debridement to remove only the damaged tissues and they cause less pain to patients while also promoting wound healing. 2. The Non-selective Methods - It includes mechanical and sharp debridement. Though they remove healthy tissues. Dressings Gauze dressings require regular changes and are less effective in providing an optimal warm & moist environment to the wound. Earlier, when wet-to-dry dressings were used as a part of standard medical attention, they were considered as the most cost-effective wound care treatment plan, but today there are several options. Various suitable new dressings are available in the market. These alternative dressings can boost the wound healing process, maintain a great level of moisture, protect wounds from possible infections and absorb high levels of drainage or stimulate tissue development as required. Modern dressings are non-adherent and speed up wound healing through maintaining a moist environment in the wound bed and are also convenient to the patients. Adapting advanced dressings and alternative debridement methods (apart from mechanical debridement ie. wet-to-dry dressings) as best wound care treatment can help wound care professionals quickly heal the wounds. Avoiding wet-to-dry dressings can result in cutting back healing time, decreasing infection risks, decreased healthcare visits as well as less pain while changing the dressing.