Advanced Wound Care: What to Choose When

It can be tough to keep up with advanced wound care product claims and features! To help you out, ProMed has created the quick reference guide below.

Dressings at a Glance1

Alginate

Indications: Moderate to heavily draining wounds, partial- and full-thickness wounds, pressure ulcers (Stages III and IV), dermal wounds, surgical incisions or dehisced wounds, sinus tracts, tunnels, cavity wounds, infected wounds 

Features:

• Hydrophilic gel is produced when alginate comes in contact with wound exudates
• Can absorb up to 20 times its weight
• Does not adhere to wound

Products to try:

• DermaGinate
• DermaGinate/Ag

Collagen

Indications: Burns, grafts, any type of wound with light, moderate or heavy drainage 

Features:

• Provides a moist healing environment
• Some reduce destructive elements in wound fluid
• Promote tissue granulation and epithelialization

Products to try:

• DermaCol
• DermaCol/Ag 
• SilvaKollagen Gel

Film

Indications: Superficial wounds with little exudate; commonly used as secondary dressings to attach a primary absorbent dressing 

Features:

• Permeable to gases and water vapor, but impermeable to wound fluids
• Retain moisture and are impermeable to bacteria and other contaminants
• Allow wound observation
• Do not require a secondary dressing

Products to try:

• DermaView
• DermaView II 

Foam

Indications: Partial-to full-thickness wounds with light to heavy exudate; frequently used under compression stockings to help treat venous leg ulcers 

Features:

• Have small, open cells that hold fluids
• Permeable to water and gas
• Some have a waterproof top surface

Products to try:

• Bordered Foam/Ag
• ComfortFoam
• ComfortFoam Border
• DermaFoam
• DermaLevin
• HydraFoam
• HydraFoam/Ag

Hydrocolloid

Indications: Stage I-IV pressure ulcers, partial- and full-thickness wounds, dermal ulcers, necrotic wounds 

Features:

• Adhesive, absorbent and elastomeric components
• Form a gel upon contact with wound fluid
• Facilitate autolytic debridement
• Self-adhesive, mold well and minimize skin trauma and healing disruption
• Can be used under compression wraps
• Can be used as a preventive dressing for areas at high risk of friction

Products to try:

• DermaFilm

Hydrogel

Indications: Lightly to moderately draining wounds, necrotic wounds 

Features:

• High water content provides moisture to the wound and rehydrate dry wound beds
• Cooling and soothing
• Reduce pain

Products to try:

• AquaDerm
• DermaGauze
• DermaSyn
• DermaSyn/Ag

Your ProMed territory manager is ready to prepare a custom Wound Care Product Selection Guide for your facility! To get started, contact your territory manager, give us a call at (800) 648-5190 or visit us online at promedsupply.com. 

Reference

1 Lippincott’s Nursing Center. Wound & Skin Care: Choosing a wound dressing, part 2. Available at: http://www.nursingcenter.com/lnc/journalarticle?Article_ID=770292. Accessed April 29, 2015. 

More Healing, Less Pain: PolyMem®

When you choose PolyMem, you're picking a dressing that combines four key wound healing capabilities into one easy-to-use formulation. PolyMem wound dressings cleanse, fill, absorb and moisten wounds throughout the healing continuum. 

How does PolyMem...

• Cleanse? PolyMem contains a mild, non-toxic cleanser activated by moisture that is gradually released into the wound bed. These built-in cleansing abilities reduce the need to cleanse wounds during dressing changes, so caregivers can avoid disrupting the growth of healthy tissue as the wound heals.
• Fill? PolyMem gently expands to fill and conform to the wound.
• Absorb? PolyMem is able to absorb up to 10 times its weight in wound exudates. Depending on wound status, PolyMem allows up to seven days between dressing changes. This can lead to substantially lower labor and dressing costs.
• Moisten? PolyMem keeps the wound bed moist and contains glycerin to soothe traumatized tissue, reducing wound pain and providing comfort. The moisturizer also helps prevent dressing pads from adhering to the wound, so removal is painless.

PolyMem's family of dressings can be used on all wound types as primary dressings, secondary dressings or both to support the entire healing process. To learn more about PolyMem, visit our website.