title: Quality of wound dressings: a first step in establishing shared criteria and objective procedures to evaluate their performance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There are no well-defined criteria for assessing the efficacy and quality of wound dressings, and evaluation is often simplistic and based on the subjective opinion of the health-care professional. The aim of this study was to identify specific parameters suitable for measuring dressings' performance, and to recommend laboratory tests able to evaluate these specific criteria in an objective manner.
  
  
  METHODS
  After reviewing all tests currently used in Italy and examining the criteria for evaluating the quality of dressings, the authors selected 12 clinically significant parameters. These parameters were measured using standard and non-standard tests, and in some cases, these tests were modified and improved to simulate real-life conditions more accurately.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the tests used were able to discriminate well between dressings belonging to different brands, with some tests being more suitable than others for the assessment of specific dressings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results highlighted some issues in the standard testing procedures, such as the need of a suitable fluid that mimics the real exudate, and the importance of standard temperature and humidity conditions during testing. Our study paves the way for a larger project aimed at a systematic evaluation of dressing quality able to assess every wound dressing on the market.
authors: Department of Chemistry, School of Human Health Sciences, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy.
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Mennini
authors: Head of Outpatient Wound Care Centre, Local Health Care System, Frosinone, Italy.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Greco
authors: Head Nurse, Ambulatory Service of Wound care, Vascular Department, Pavia, Italy.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Bellingeri
authors: Responsible UOS Servizio di Farmacia, Presidio Ospedaliero Renzetti, ASL Lanciano-Vasto-Chieti, Chieti, Italy.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: De Vita
authors: Responsible UOS Servizio di Farmacia, Presidio Ospedaliero Renzetti, ASL Lanciano-Vasto-Chieti, Chieti, Italy.
authors: F
authors: F
authors: Petrella
mesh_terms: D047070:Bandages, Hydrocolloid / Q000592:standards*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D012015:Reference Standards; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: in vitro; performance; test model; wound dressing; wound exudate