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Abstract
Hydrocoliold dressings have been widely used since the late 1970s. This article compares two hydrocolloid dressings - 3M Tegasorb dressing and ConvaTec's Granuflex (E) - and highlights their similarities and differences when used in the clinical situation. Both hydrocolloids were reported to perform favourably by users in most situations. 3M Tegasorb dressing becomes transparent in use and this function was rated highly by users compared to the opaque Granuflex (E). In addition, 3M Tegasorb showed better adherence. One limitation of the study was the small number of patients studied. Weekly assessments yielded 90 data sets In total.
The skin is the largest organ in the human body and has many functions including protecting the body from damage and infection. It consists of three layers: the epidermis; the dermis; and the subcutaneous fat layer (Figure 1). Thickness of the individual layers varies depending on body site (Scales, 1990). Dermal wounds are wounds which involve the epidermis extending into the dermal layer and can occur for a variety of reasons such as trauma, leg ulceration, surgical procedures and pressure damage. The depth of these wounds depends on the wound site and the patient's general condition.
Several factors need to be considered when choosing an appropriate dressing. These include wound assessment, wound causation, patient assessment, cost of treatment, the level of nursing intervention required, availability of dressing (Thomas, 1995; Bale and Jones, 1997), as well as any social, psychological or environmental problems which might affect management of the wound. These issues are of particular importance when caring for patients in the community (Harding, 1992; Banks and Bale, 1994).
The local management of the wound can be problematic and the availability of a selection of dressing materials is an important and practical aspect of patient care.
In research studies evaluating and comparing dressing products, there are several possible outcome measures. These include time to complete healing, cost-effectiveness, absorbency and/or wear time of products. All of these outcome measures can give useful information to clinicians when faced with a number of clinical challenges in the management of wounds.
Hydrocolloid dressings have been available for the management of dermal wounds since the late 1970s. Numerous studies have been undertaken to evaluate their effectiveness and efficacy in the management...