Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: To explore the characteristics and clinical application of alginate dressing to provide better biological dressing for clinical wound healing.
METHODS: A computer-based online search of CNKI, Medline, Wanfang, Science Direct, and Ei databases was performed for related articles published between January 1960 and October 2009, with the key words “alginate, dressing, clinical application” in Chinese and English. Studies regarding characteristics and clinical application of alginate dressing were included. Repetitive and Meta analysis were excluded. In addition, related books were manually searched.
RESULTS: A total of 65 articles were collected, 17 were included, and 48 repetitive or Meta analyses were excluded. Alginate is natural polysaccharide carbohydrate extracted from sea tangle, and alginate dressing is soft non-textile fiber refined from seaweed. It contains 85% natural alginate fiber and 15% sodium tvlose. It can absorb effusion, form gelate, and exchange Na⁺ /Ca ²⁺ with effusion. Alginate dressing has been widely used in bedsore treatment, anal fistula nursing, stoma nursing, and diabetic foot nursing. Compared with traditional dressing, infection rate of alginate dressing is lower due to good impermeability, promotion of regional vessel proliferation and blood supply, as well as moist and slightly acidic environment which benefits neutrophil function enhances disinfection. Moreover, it can be used in wound healing following abdominal region operation and abscess incision drainage.
CONCLUSION: Alginate dressing provides appropriate environment for wound growth, retains active materials in diffusion, promotes active material release, benefit necrotic tissue solution and cell proliferation and differentiation, as well as epithelial cell migration. Moreover, it maintains hypoxia state of wound, stimulates newly generated capillary growth, and promotes granulation tissue growth.