Updates in wound management

Abstract

Complicated acute wounds and chronic wounds have always accompanied the medical practice; unfortunately, the care given to them is not adequate and is often empirical. The high costs in health services and the poor quality of life of the patients who suffer them, generated in the last 20 years the development of technologies for the rapid, optimal and cost-effective closure of these injuries; the concept of humid environment appeared, with which specialized dressings or bandages were developed. The development of this wound technology has grown by leaps and bounds, but in our country, there is still resistance to its use, despite the existing scientific evidence. It is important that surgeons be aware of this therapeutic arsenal and approach wounds holistically and not as isolated injuries from chronic patients. In addition, new generations of surgeons must train in their years of residency in the use of these dressings, as is already done in North America and Europe; even this area should be considered as a subspecialty of surgical care. There are two types of dressings: the traditional, which uses lowtech dressings (gauze), and the advanced, which uses dressings with active substances that interact with the microenvironment of the wound, such as hydrocolloids, alginates or collagen, among others. The objective of this review is to know all the materials we have, from organic products to the highest technology devices for wound healing and when to use them.