A critical review of modern and emerging absorbent dressings used to treat exuding wounds

Wound management has progressed significantly over the last five decades. This emanates from a greater understanding of wound healing, technological progression and improved clinical and scientific research. There are currently a plethora of absorbent dressings on the wound care market which claim to have the ability to manage exudates whilst encouraging healing. However, it is becoming clear, from analysing randomised controlled trials, that some of these absorbent dressings are not meeting their expectations when applied in a clinical setting. Many clinicians now feel that there should be more focus, not only on a dressing's ability to manage exudate efficiently, but on a dressing's ability to proactively encourage healing and thus exudate reduction will ensue. This paper proposes to critically review modern and emerging absorbent wound care dressings used to manage exuding wounds and discuses some advances in this area.