Hydrogels played a primary role
in medicine in the last few decades because of their outstanding properties.
Hydrogels have a unique three-dimension structure that enables them to hold
water or any biological fluids for a long time. The crosslink (tie-points,
junctions) of the three-dimension structure allows them to be insoluble in
water, while their ability to hold biological fluids enables them to mimic the
human tissue (Khule, 2018) .
Many researchers have used
hydrogels unique properties and tuned them to be used in pharmaceutical
applications. Temperature, pH, ionic strength, and salts are parameters used as
physiological stimuli to control the hydrogels (Kamoun, 2017) .
The three forms of hydrogels are;
hydro gel’s form where the gel is hydrated by water or fluids. In contrast,
removing the water from the gel “xerogel” cause the structure to collapse, and
to lose its functionality. The third important form is called Aerogels, it is a
hydrogel where water or liquid was removed using freeze-drying or organic
solvents, without disturbing the gel mesh, and the left aerogels are very light
and highly porous (Vowden, 207) .
Hydrogels used as a wound dressings showed satisfactory results in wound healing. They do not stick to the
wound and easily replaced without damaging the formed epidermis. Gels nature
make them smooth pain and cool the skin, which relief the patient. The tight
mesh size prevents wound infection, and maintain permeability required for a
drug to penetrate. The advantage that makes hydrogels perfect candidate in
wound healing is the dressings are transparent, which help in monitoring the
wound (Vowden, 207) . They proved
excellent ability in treating moderately exudating wounds and minor burns.
There are many products in the market can be used as a dressing or topical
cream such as Restore- hydrogel.
References
Kamoun, E. A. (2017). A review on polymeric hydrogel
membranes for wound dressing applications: PVA-based hydrogel dressings. Journal
of advanced research, 217-233.
Khule, A. B. (2018). As a review on hydrogel, pharmaceutical sciences.
Vowden, K. &. (207). Wound dressings: principles
and practice. Surgery (Oxford), 489-494.
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