ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Dressings are a mainstay for wound management; however, dressing adherence to the wound or periwound area can cause pain and trauma at removal. Dressing-related trauma includes skin reactions, adherence to the wound, and skin stripping. The development of atraumatic wound contact layer dressings has been a major advancement in reducing trauma. OBJECTIVE: This study compares the benefits of a cellulose acetate mesh (CAM) coated with soft silicone versus a flexible polyamide net (FPN) coated with soft silicone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multicenter, randomized controlled study was conducted in 70 patients (35 in CAM group [1 patient exclused due to not receiving treatment], 35 in the FPN group) with traumatic, postsurgical, and burn wounds. Wounds were assessed once per week for 4 weeks to measure dressing adherence to the wound bed, percent reepithelialization, and patient tolerance. All wounds were prepared according to standard of care wound management protocol at the time of assessment. RESULTS: In this study, 97.06% (n = 33) of patients in the CAM group and 91.43% (n = 32) in the FPN group did not report dressing adherence during any of the assessments. Average time to complete reepithelialization was 16 days in the CAM group versus 15 days in the FPN group (P = .4958), and both products had excellent tolerance. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that CAM coated with a soft silicone performed as well as the FPN contact layer in minimizing dressing adherence, time to complete reepithelialization, and patient tolerance.
