title: A model for quantitative evaluation of skin damage at adhesive wound dressing removal.
abstract: The removal of adhesive wound dressings from the wound surface involves a risk of damaging the intact stratum corneum and regenerating epithelium. Pain associated with the removal of wound dressings is a major issue for patients and medical personnel. Recently, wound dressings coated with a silicone adhesive have been developed to reduce such skin damage and pain on removal and they have received good evaluation in various clinical settings. However, there is neither a standard method to quantify whether or not the integrity of the stratum corneum and regenerating epithelium is retained or if both structures are damaged by the removal of wound dressings, nor are there standardised values with which to assess skin damage. We applied six different types of adhesive wound dressing on plain copy paper printed with black ink by a laser printer, removed the dressings, examined the adhesive-coated surface of the wound dressings using a high-power videoscope, and examined the stripped areas. Wound dressings coated with a silicone adhesive showed significantly less detachment of the stratum corneum and regenerating epithelium, followed by those coated with polyurethane, hydrocolloid, and acrylic adhesives. The assessment method utilised in this study revealed distinct differences between wound dressing types, but less variation in the evaluation outcome of each type. This assessment method may be useful for the evaluation of adhesive wound dressings, particularly during product development. However, further studies will be needed to examine the effectiveness of this assessment method in the clinical setting because the adherent properties of polyurethane and hydrocolloid adhesives may be altered by the absorption of water from the skin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo 160-0023, Japan. hmatsu-tki@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumura
authors.forename: Niyaz
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahmatjan
authors.forename: Yukiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ida
authors.forename: Ryutaro
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: Katsueki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wanatabe
mesh_terms: D000269:Adhesives / Q000009:adverse effects*; D020878:Device Removal / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009779:Occlusive Dressings; D012867:Skin / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D000269:Adhesives