(426e) Novel Hydrogel Dressing Enhances Skin Wound Healing

Skin traumas, such as burns, bruises, tears, contusions and other superficial injuries, are among the most common health problems in the world. It has been reported that in America, more than ten million people suffer from skin traumas every year in the United States, including over 400,000 burn cases and six million contusion cases. Wound dressings are critical to skin trauma treatment, covering wounds and protecting them from contamination or infections. Traditional dressings are typically made of dry cotton, which tends to adhere to the wound, causing scab formation and bacterial infections. Ideally, a dressing should accelerate wound healing while avoiding any side effects or complications. Recently, it has been found that hydrogels can provide a moist environment for the wounds that mimics the in vivo environment, thus facilitating debridement of necrotic tissue, enhancing tissue regeneration, and avoiding scab formation. Zwitterionic hydrogels exhibit strong hydration, are biomimetic in nature, and show excellent anti-fouling properties; their resulting high water content, excellent biocompatibility, and negligible interactions with proteins and cells make them ideal wet wound dressings. In this presentation, we demonstrate that skin wounds treated with zwitterionic hydrogels healed significantly better than those treated with PHEMA hydrogels and the commercial product DuoDerm. Moreover, these zwitterionic hydrogels can be easily coated on cotton gauze or bandage pads for easy handling and use.