ABSTRACT
Since the discovery in 1962 that epithelialization is accelerated by wound occlusion with a moisture-retaining polyethylene film, occlusive therapy has made considerable advances. The first-generation occlusive dressings were of impermeable or of low-permeable plastic films without adhesive backing. The second-generation wound dressings, represented by medium-permeable polyurethane films and hydrocolloid dressings with an adhesive backing, were easy to handle, but had an insufficient vapor permeability that still led to wound fluid accumulation. In the third generation of wound dressings, the problems of wound fluid control was handled by using high water vapor permeable materials such as hydrogels and hydrophilized polyurethane films. In this paper, the mechanisms of accelerated epithelialization and improved dermal repair are discussed.
