Any kind of injury that damages the skin or adjoining body tissues is known as a wound. These can either be open – wherein the skin is broken, and the underlying tissue is exposed, or closed – wherein there is a damage to the underlying tissue, but the skin is intact.

A few examples of penetrating wounds include puncture wounds, surgical incisions, burns (thermal, chemical, or electrical), lacerations, abrasions, gunshots, etc. Most closed wounds are often caused by blunt trauma, where there is a chance of internal bleeding. Contusions, seromas, hematomas, and crush injuries are some examples of closed wounds.

Based on the rate at which the wounds heal, they can be broadly categorized in to acute and chronic wounds. Acute wounds are those that show definite signs of healing within one to four weeks. These follow a predictable speed through each stage in the healing process. 

On the other hand, chronic, or, non-healing wounds are those that fail to heal in a timely manner. These are usually caused due to long term illnesses like diabetes and cancer, advancing age or repeated trauma, and significantly lower the quality of life.

Types of wound care dressings

Traditionally, bandages and gauzes have been used as wound dressings for treating chronic, exudating wounds. Although highly adsorbent, these need to be changed repeatedly, leading to pain and discomfort for the patient. They also cannot provide sufficient drainage and adhesion to the wound site.

Other kinds of wound dressings include gauze, acrylics and bioactive polymer-based dressings like silk, collagen, gelatine, elastin, cellulose, chitosan, alginate, and hyaluronic acid (HA).

There is significant research in process for the development of composite dressings. For example, dressing materials impregnated with nanocrystalline silver have been developed and used due to their improved wound healing abilities. Ag‐Mg‐thermoplastic polyurethane (Ag‐Mg‐TPU) composite material, which is a combination of silver with magnesium, has been shown to increase both the amount and rate of silver ion released from the composite, and with an increased antimicrobial effect. Nanoparticle based dressings like thiolated biodegradable bandage impregnated with ZnO nanoparticles has been seen to improve tissue regeneration. However scalability and clinical efficacy of these dressings face several challenges for becoming ideal dressing material. 

4 Stages of wound healing

In the human body, wound healing occurs in the following four stages.6

• Haemostasis: The first stage is that in which the bleeding is stopped and a temporary barrier is created on the surface of the puncture to prevent any kind of tissue damage or infection.
• Inflammation: In this stage, white blood cells are transferred to the site of the would to promote healing. It usually lasts for 4-6 days, but can be longer if there is an infection or lack of sufficient blood supply.
• Proliferation: In the third stage, new skin cells, blood vessels and collagen fibers start to form, and wound healing occurs.
• Maturation: The final stage is marked by formation of collagen fibers and other proteins so that the wound site becomes stronger and less susceptible to re-injury.

Maxiocel – Chitosan Wound Dressing

MaxioCel is a revolutionary wound care dressing for both acute and chronic wounds, utilizing Bioactive Microfiber Gelling (BMG®) Technology based on a proprietary biopolymer platform. Prior to the invention of MaxioCel, finding a single dressing to address all four phases of wound healing, manage exudate, and provide antimicrobial action was challenging. MaxioCel uniquely excels in offering exudate management, antimicrobial protection, and also has bioactive properties, thus enhancing the wound healing process.

Maxiocel is made up of 100% chitosan, a biomaterial derived from shellfish. It effectively heal wounds and ulcers like, viz., diabetic foot ulcers, venous leg ulcers, bed sores or pressure ulcers, donor site wounds, haemostasis post debridement, and other chronic wounds including burns.

It offers painless wound healing and is highly absorbent. It is designed to heal chronic wounds by effectively managing exudates, and offering infection control, pain relief and scar improvement.

To know more about Maxiocel, visit https://axiobio.com/maxiocel/wound-care-dressing/  or reach out to us at info@axiobio.com.