lundi 16 février 2015

All About Collagen Wound Dressing

By Beryl Dalton


Wounds are always trouble especially when they get infected. With collagen wound dressing, however, they heal much faster. In addition, the dressings come with antimicrobial agents which inhibit potential infections. Although, new to some patients, they show excellent results in healing necrotic wounds, second degree burns and skin grafts. So what exactly are they?

As its known, collagen dressings are enhancers for wound healing and are made animals such as horses and cattle. Usually, it works by creating a moist environment around the wound and as a result speed up the healing process.

For starters, collagen is a protein. Its found naturally in humans whose function is to help close up a wound and speed the recovery process. This happens because of its ability to attract fibroblasts and keratinocytes to the site of broken skin. Subsequently, it encourages debridement, re-growth of epithelial cells and angiogenesis. Lastly, it is a natural scaffold for growth of new tissues and responsible for giving the skin its tensile strength. Fibroblasts bring together the matrix to form stronger scar.

The biological material makes dressings available in varying surface areas and pore sizes. It also available in the form of gels, pastes, powders or sheets placed on broken skin. Such attributes enhances management aspects of the healing process. Every six to seven days, they may be changed to ensure that they remain effective. The length of time needed to change is long making it economical to the patient.

The biological material is used on certain wounds only. For instance, it usually works best with full thick ones or the partial ones too, necrotic ones and chronic non-healing ones. These include those caused by pressure, venous ulcers and diabetic. Also, those from graft sites, abrasions and surgical processes. In addition, burns categorized as first and second degree are healed.

However, collagen does not fix all broken skins like third degree burns. The dressing also is contradicted for patients with active vasculities or those with known sensitivity to bovine, swine or avian materials. The material is also contraindicated for patients with sensitivity to the silver used in the antimicrobial patch. If under supervision of a health care professional, the dressings may be used for compression therapy.

Note that collagen dressing and its contents are usually meant for a single patient only. Also, they are strictly for external use. During use, one ought to make certain that contact with the intact skin or the edges of this wound are minimal. It should be noted that contacting the unaffected parts can be detrimental to the skin cells. Lastly, its a legal precaution for one to buy from a physician and under the advice of physician.

Collagen is superior to other conventional materials because it is easy to apply. It is also natural and pain free, therefore, it does not induce immunogenic reactions. Since it is a key component of the healing process, it speeds up the process artificially. If the healing process stalls, the dressings also help in jump starting and speeding up the process. Fibroblasts bring together the matrix to form stronger scar.




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