Surgery: splint – brace – or bandage – Bandage structure – Skin laceration or wound cover
Patent
1995-08-14
1998-07-21
Apley, Richard J.
Surgery: splint, brace, or bandage
Bandage structure
Skin laceration or wound cover
602 43, 602 56, 602 58, A61F 500
Patent
active
057827877
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a dressing useful in the treatment of lesions of the skin. More particularly this invention relates to a unitary dressing which is absorbent but which has a reduced tendency to ad here to the lesions of the skin.
It has been a recognized problem for a long time that dressings used on exuding lesions are inclined to suffer from either or both of the disadvantages that they sometimes tend to float away from a wound or else they sometimes tend to adhere to the wound surface.
The first of these disadvantages generally occurs when the wound is one that produces particularly large volumes of exudate. Normally the method of overcoming the problem is to provide the dressing with holes so that the exudate can pass through the holes to an absorbent and hence the dressing remains in contact with the wound. Certain attempts to achieve this end are disclosed in UK Patent Nos.778813, 1398011,1408345 and Application Nos.2061732 and 2074029. One successful dressing is MELOLIN (Trade Mark, available from Smith & Nephew, Hull. UK) which comprises a perforated synthetic polymer film and an absorbent cellulosic pad. The perforated film is placed next to the exuding wound, the exudate passes through the perforations and is absorbed in the pad. A more recent suggestion has been to use a perforated polytetrafluoroethylene film in an effort to minimize the risk of any adherency of the dressing to the wound.
The second of the above disadvantages usually occurs when the wound has dried out due to the lack of production of exudate. Attempts to remove the dressing will result in disturbance of the newly forming layer of the skin over the wound and hence wound healing is delayed. Generally the method of overcoming this problem is to provide the dressing with a continuous layer which retards the rate of loss of water. One effective means of achieving this end is described in British Patent No.1280631.
However, none of the known methods are free of disadvantages since what may be an excellent dressing for one kind of wound will be unsuitable for many other wounds since wounds differ greatly in their output of exudate. It has now been realized that, not only is there a need for a dressing which is suitable for use on a number of different wound types, there is also a need for a dressing which can better cope with the variation in rate of exudate production from a given wound.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A dressing now has been discovered which allows passage of a greater amount of exudate when in contact with an exudating wound. The new dressing has been found to have a further advantage in that it has properties which aid re-epithelialization of the wound.
Accordingly the present invention provides an absorbent dressing which comprises a conformable hydrophilic polymeric foam layer having a first surface and an opposed second surface, the first surface having a plurality of discrete zones of a polymeric material, the swellability on contact with water of the polymeric material being less than that of the polymer foam.
It has been found that when such a dressing is placed with the zones of polymeric material, in contact with a wet surface, the foam layer absorbs the fluid, eg. water or exudate and swells. The zones being discrete (ie. separated from one another) move apart, thereby increasing the surface area of the first surface of the foam available for absorption, thereby further aiding absorption. Movement apart of the zones on swelling of the foam layer, leads to the zones occupying an expanded position. As the water is absorbed, the amount of water available for absorption by the foam layer decreases. As the exudate passes across the first surface of the foam layer and enters into the foam layer, moisture vapour escapes across the second surface of the foam layer. As the moisture vapour escapes the foam dries and contracts. The contraction of the foam layer results in a reduction of the surface area of the first surface of the foam available for absorption. As the surface area o
REFERENCES:
patent: 2896618 (1959-07-01), Schaefer
patent: 5277954 (1994-01-01), Carpenter et al.
patent: 5328450 (1994-07-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5445604 (1995-08-01), Lang
Apley Richard J.
Lee Kim M.
Smith & Nephew plc
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