Table 2.

Overview of most used advanced wound dressings.

Wound Dressings	Materials	Shape/ Form	Application	Advantages and Properties	Disadvantages and Limitations
Semi-permeable film dressings	Non-porous polyvinyl polymer; transparent and adherent polyurethane coated with an adhesive layer [38,41,63,64,66,71,174]	Films	Superficial wounds as primary dressings [63,64], or as secondary dressings when used in combination with foam dressings in more substantial exuding wounds; epithelializing wound, superficial wound and shallow wound with low exudates [41,66]; superficial burns; minor abrasions and laceration; radiation dermatitis; postoperative sutured wounds; prevention of pressure injuries [38,71]	Thin and semipermeable transparent film, highly elastic and flexible [2,70]; can conform to any shape (patient‘s body) [63,64]; do not require additional tapping; maintains moist and protective environment; prevents bacterial migration and provide a barrier to external contamination; impermeable to liquids and bacteria; provide no cushioning allow inspection without dressing removal (transparent) [38,71]; can remain in place for 1 week; adhere to healthy skin but not to wound [65].	Not suitable for exuding wounds (moderately to highly), may not prevent maceration [41,66]; not used in the management of infected wounds; may damage fragile skin [38,71]
Semi-permeable foam dressings	Polyurethane [63,71], polyaniline [98]	Foam	Infected ulcers; pressure ulcers; venous ulcers; moderate to heavily exuding wounds [92]; superficial and cavity wounds; skin tears; skin grafts and donor sites [38,71]	Absorbent (absorbency can be controlled by the foam’s thickness, texture and pore size); provides moist interface; good absorbent; can present both hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties [63,71]; should be changed once saturated with exudate (range from once daily to once or twice weekly) [63]	Not suitable for dry wounds, necrotic wounds, hard eschar and wounds requiring frequent review [38,71]; may need a retention product; special care needed for patients with fragile skin for nonsilicone types [38]
Hydrogel dressings	Hydrophilic, inflatable, and insoluble materials [129]; cross-linked polymers (cellulose, starch or other derived polysaccharides) [37,71,105,106,107,108]	Shapes of sheet hydrogel, amorphous gel, and impregnated gauze [37,105,106,107,108,129]	Wounds with low exudate; dehydrated wounds; burns; surgical wounds, skin tears, and pressure ulcers; grazes/lacerations; radiation oncology burns; donor sites; healing of the painful wounds [37,38,41,71,105,106,107,108,129]	Transparent; absorption of a large number of ulcers; creation of a damp environment that removes dead tissues [110] and foreign materials from the wound; soothing and cooling effects on the skin; facilitate autolytic debridement [63]; antibacterial action [38,129]; should be changed generally every 1 - 3 days; useful in flat wounds, cavities, and sinuses [63,115]	Suitable only for the surface of wounds [129]; can cause maceration in heavily exuding wounds [63]; not suitable for dry wounds or wounds with hardened eschar; not recommended in the management of wounds with anaerobic infections; need secondary dressing [41,71]
Hydrocolloid dressing	A mixture of colloidal materials with elastomers and alginates; sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, pectin, gelatin and polyisobutylene [71,129]	Thin films and sheets, or composite dressings [134,135,136,137]	Are the most widely used dressings: surface ulcers [134,135,136,137], minor burns, shock injuries, bruises, acute and chronic wounds, flat wounds, cavities, sinuses, undermining wounds [71,108,127]	Occlusive; prevent water, bacteria, and oxygen from entering into the wound; biodegradable and biocompatible; can absorb minimal to moderate amount of wound fluids; occlusive; reduce the ph of the wound; facilitate inhibiting bacteria growth; provides a moist, hypoxic wound environment [71,129]; day-to-day changes early in the treatment course, with a decrease to every 3 days to 1 week over time, good in “difficult” areas—heel, elbow, sacrum [63,133]	Not appropriate for deeper wounds, especially wounds with an infection and diabetic foot ulceration; does not prevent maceration in heavily exuding wounds; prevent water vapor exchange [38,71,129]
Alginate dressing	Calcium salt and sodium alginic acid [129]; polymer extracted From seaweed [71]	Wafers [151,152,153,169], foams [2,170,171], gauzes [172,173,174], fibers [175,176,177]; sheet form; ribbons and ropes [63];	All wound types with high exudate, infected and noninfected wounds; burn wounds [129,144,148]	Good absorbent (absorption of excess wound secretions up to about twenty times of their weight due to high porosity and nonsticky); serializable; useful in cavities and sinuses, and for undermining wounds; need to be changed daily [71,129]	Not suitable for the dried wounds [71,129]; Need a secondary dressing [129,144,148];
Non-adherent Contact Layer Dressings	Polyamide, polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, can be coated with silicone [71,158,159]	Layers [71,158,159]	Suitable for a wide range of wound types [71,158,159]	Atraumatic removal with nonadherence to the wound site can be left for up to 14 days; used for the protection of newly formed tissue [158,159]	Can be used only in conjunction with a secondary absorbent dressing [71,158,159]
Multilayered dressings	Combination of a semi- or non-adherent layer and a highly absorptive layer [4,71,172]	Layers [71,164,165]	Burns, surgical incisions, lacerations, abrasions [71,172]	Possibility to combine priorities of more dressings depending on the combination of used materials [71,164,165]	The thickness of dressing in the case of the use of more voluminous materials depends on the combination of used materials [71,172]