Towards the development of an antibacterial wound dressing with effective management of wound exudate

Abstract

Antibacterial wound dressings are capable of minimizing infections and improve healing, especially when paired with proper wound exudate management system. In this study microencapsulation was used as a technique to impart antibacterial agents to the wound dressing and encapsulation process was tried in both coacervation and in electrospraying techniques. Coacervation was tried with gelatin and Fusidic acid while the electrospraying was done with Sodium alginate and Fusidic acid. The yield of the capsules prepared through electrospraying technique was comparatively higher. Prepared microcapsules were characterized by using Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). Size range of the capsules prepared through electrospraying process was 600–800 μm with an irregular morphology while the sizes of the capsules obtained from coacervation was 6-20 μm. Antibacterial test was conducted to check the effectiveness of the microencapsulated antibacterial agent and the highest inhibition zone observed was 6.4795 cm2 where the antibacterial agent was released through ion exchange mechanism. Permalose AQUA treated polyester thread was used to investigate the wicking rates of wound exudate by using viscosities closer to the viscosity of wound exudate and it demonstrated the suitability of polyester thread in the management of the wound exudate.