[Modern wound dressings].

Chronic wounds are, due to the slow healing, a major clinical problem. In addition to classic materials, a great number of supportive wound dressings for chronic wound treatment, developed on the basis of new knowledge about the pathophysiological events in non-healing wounds, are available on the market. Today we know that modern wound dressings provide the best local environment for optimal healing (moisture, warmth, appropriate pH). Wound dressings control the amount of exudate from the wound and bacterial load, thus protecting local skin from the wound exudate and the wound from secondary infections from the environment. Using supportive wound dressings makes sense only when the wound has been properly assessed, the etiologic factors have been clarified and the obstacles making the wound chronic identified. The choice of dressing is correlated with the characteristics of the wound, the knowledge and experience of the medical staff, and the patient's needs. We believe that the main advantage of modern wound dressing versus conventional dressing is more effective wound cleaning, simple dressing application, painless bandaging owing to reduced adhesion to the wound, and increased absorption of the wound exudate. Faster wound granulation shortens the length of patient hospitalization, and eventually facilitates the work of medical staff. The overall cost of treatment is a minor issue due to faster wound healing despite the fact that modern supportive wound dressings are more expensive than conventional bandaging. The article describes different types of modern supportive wound dressings, as well as their characteristics and indications for use.