The prospects of application of antimicrobial biodegradable wound dressings for the treatment of purulent wounds

Abstract

Introduction. Due to the growing number of polyantibiotic-resistant strains of microorganisms, the issue of improving the tactics of local treatment of soft tissue wounds without the use of antibiotic therapy is gaining more and more urgency in surgery.Aim. To study the dependence of the antiseptic effect of chitosan-based wound dressings on the degree of their biodegradation and to evaluate the prospects for the use of such dressings for the treatment of purulent wounds.Materials and methods. The object of the study was wound dressings with incorporated antiseptic polyhexanide (PH) based on chitosan of two types: unstabilized (Ch-H-PH) and stabilized by cross-linking with glutaric aldehyde (Ch-H-GA-PH). The antimicrobial activity spectrum was investigated in vitro by disk-diffusion method using test cultures of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The directionality of biodegradation was studied by scanning electron microscopy.Results and discussion. Stabilized Ch-H-GA-PH samples had prolonged antimicrobial action due to longer biodegradation times (max – 36–48 h; p ≤ 0.05), while Ch-H-PH samples due to high hydrophilicity of the material biodegraded early and realized the full antimicrobial potential within 24 hours (max – 12 h; p ≤ 0.05). The obtained results correlated with the data provided in the foreign researchers’ publications on the investigation of the properties of biopolymer materials used as matrix carriers for drugs, and in terms of addressing the search for strategies to combat poly-antibiotic resistance in surgical practice.Conclusion. Application of wound dressing s of antiseptic type of action on the basis of chitosan with different parameters of biodegradation will allow to realize a programmed approach to treatment of purulent wounds of soft tissues in a personalized way depending on a specific clinical situation.