WOUND DRESSING FOR WOUND TREATMENT IN A DAMP OR WET ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

The invention relates to a wound dressing (2) for wound treatment in a damp environment, comprising a fiber fleece-based suction/irrigation body (4) in which super absorbent material is accommodated in a distributed manner, wherein the suction/irrigation body (4) is supplied with a salt-containing aqueous solution by the manufacturer, and comprising a packaging (6) forming the outer visible sides of the wound dressing, wherein the packaging (6) comprises a layer (9) made from a flat textile material on the side of the wound dressing facing the wound, wherein the layer (9) made from a flat textile material on the side facing the wound comprises an outer-side, partially and structurally applied atraumatically effective coating (22) having a degree of coverage of at most 70%, characterised in that the packaging (6) comprises a fiber fleece layer (12) on the side of the wound dressing facing away from the wound, which forms the outer visible side (14) of the wound dressing facing away from the wound, and in that a liquid-impermeable plastic film layer (16) is arranged on the side of said fiber fleece layer (12) facing the wound, and in that the fiber fleece layer (12), the plastic film layer (16), the suction/irrigation body (4) and the layer (9) made from flat textile material are not connected extensively to one another, but rather lie with the flat sides thereof loosely and movably against one another and are only connected with one another along the peripheral edges (18) of same by means of a joint connection.

Claims

1. A wound dressing (2) for wound treatment in a moist or moist/wet environment, comprising: a fibrous web-based suction/rinsing body (4) in which superabsorbent material is incorporated in a distributed manner, and wherein a saline aqueous solution, has been applied to the suction/rinsing body (4), and a cover (6) forming the outer visual sides of the wound dressing, wherein the cover (6) comprises on the wound-facing side of the wound dressing, a layer (9) comprising a textile planar material, wherein the layer (9) comprising the textile planar material has on the wound-facing side a coating (22), which has been applied on the outer side in a partial and structured manner and which acts atraumatically, and which has a degree of coverage of at most 70%, and wherein the cover (6) further comprises a fibrous web layer (12) on the side of the wound dressing that faces away from the wound, which fibrous web layer forms the outer visual side of the wound dressing that faces away from the wound, and wherein a fluid-impermeable plastics film layer (16) is arranged on the wound-facing side of said fibrous web layer (12), and wherein the fibrous web layer (12), the plastics film layer (16), the suction/rinsing body (4) and the layer (9) composed of textile planar material are not joined to another in a planar manner, but are in contact with one another via their planar sides in a loose and slidable manner, the fibrous web layer (12), the plastics film layer (16), the suction/rinsing body (4) and the layer (9) composed of textile planar material being joined to one another only along their peripheral edge (18) by means of a joint.

2. The wound dressing of claim 1, wherein the joint is an ultrasonic welded joint.

3. The wound dressing of claim 2, wherein the ultrasonic welded joint comprises a succession of discrete ultrasonic welded points.

4. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the fibrous web layer (12) is formed from thermoplastic fiber material.

5. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the surface weight of the fibrous web layer (12) is 15-100 g/m.sup.2.

6. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the density of the fibrous web layer (12) is 10-1000 kg/m.sup.3.

7. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the fluid-impermeable plastics film layer (16) is formed from a thermoplastic material.

8. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the fluid-impermeable plastics film layer (16) has a surface weight of 5-100 g/m.sup.2 and a thickness of 5-100 m.

9. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the fibrous web-based suction/rinsing body (4) comprises cellulosic fibers.

10. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the surface weight of the fiber fraction of the suction/rinsing body (4) is 20-500 g/m.sup.2.

11. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the density of the fiber fraction of the suction/rinsing body (4) is 20-500 kg/m.sup.3.

12. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the layer (9) composed of textile planar material is formed from a thermoplastic material.

13. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the degree of coverage of the coating (22) which has been applied in a partial and structured manner and which acts atraumatically is 20-70%.

14. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the coating (22) which has been applied in a partial and structured manner and which acts atraumatically is in the form of strips (24).

15. The wound dressing of claim 14, wherein the width of the strips (24) is 1-3 mm and/or the distance of the strips (24) from one another is 4-8 mm.

16. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the surface weight of the fiber fraction of the fibrous web-based suction/rinsing body (4) is 30-100 g/m.sup.2 and in that the surface weight of the superabsorbent material within the fibrous web-based suction/rinsing body (4) is 50-100 g/m.sup.2 and in that the thickness of the wound dressing in the saline aqueous solution-applied state is 3-7 mm.

17. A method for producing the wound dressings (2) comprising feeding the fibrous web layer (12), the fluid-impermeable plastics film layer (16), the layer forming the fibrous web-based suction/rinsing body (4), and the layer (9) composed of textile planar material are as respectively continuous planar materials which are arranged on top of one another in the stated sequence of layers and in that the layers are joined to one another only along their peripheral edge (18), and, at the same time, wherein the wound dressings (2) are singularized from the planar materials.

18. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the saline aqueous solution is Ringer's solution.

19. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the textile planar material of layer (9) is selected from the group consisting of weft-knitted fabric, warp-knitted fabric and woven fabric.

20. The wound dressing of claim 1 wherein the coating (22) comprises silicone.

Description

[0024] Further features, details and advantages of the invention are revealed by the attached claims and by the graphic depiction and following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the drawing:

[0025] FIG. 1 shows a schematic sectional view of a wound dressing according to the invention;

[0026] FIG. 2 shows a view of the wound dressing with a look at the wound-facing side of the wound dressing.

[0027] FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of a wound dressing 2. It comprises a suction/rinsing body 4 based on a fibrous web. This fiber base is a preferred mixture of airlaid cellulose fibers (pulp) and polypropylene fibers or polypropylene/polyethylene fibers. Superabsorbent polymer materials (SAP) in particle form or in fiber form are admixed with this fiber mixture as homogeneously as possible, the SAP fraction of the total mass of the suction/rinsing body 4 preferably being 40-50% by weight. The mean particle size of the SAP particles is, for example, from 150 to 850 m (e.g., the polyacrylate brand Favor pac 300 from Evonik Stockhausen GmbH).

[0028] The suction/rinsing body 4 is surrounded by a cover 6 which forms the outer sides of the wound dressing and which is formed by a shell layer 8 which faces the wound and two shell layers 10a, b which face away from the wound. The shell layer 8 which faces the wound is preferably a layer 9 composed of a textile planar material, such as a weft-knitted fabric, preferably composed of polypropylene, though a woven fabric or warp-knitted fabric would also be advantageously conceivable, i.e., a shell layer composed of threads or filaments with textile interlacing, which allows a good fluid exchange between the suction/rinsing body 4 and the wound environment.

[0029] The one shell layer 10a which faces away from the wound is a fibrous web layer 12, preferably composed of polypropylene, which forms a visual side 14 of the wound dressing 2, which visual side faces away from the wound. The second shell layer 10b is formed by a fluid-impermeable plastics film layer 16 which is arranged immediately below the fibrous web layer 12, i.e., on the wound-facing side of the fibrous web layer 12, between the fibrous web layer 12 and the suction/rinsing body 4. These two shell layers 10a, 10b which face away from the wound are not joined to one another in a planar manner; thus, they do not form a laminate in the proper sense, but are in planar contact with one another in a loose and slidable manner, though they are joined to one another and to the further components of the wound dressing along a peripheral edge 18 or a peripheral edge region. To this end, the layers of the wound dressing are fed as planar materials which are each continuous in one machine direction and said layers are arranged on top of one another. Thus, these are the fibrous web layer 12, the plastics film layer 16, a fibrous web layer with superabsorbent polymer materials, which forms the actual fibrous web-based suction/rinsing body, and the wound-facing layer composed of a textile planar material. To delimit, define and ultimately singularize the wound dressing products, there is produced, perpendicular to the layer plane, a joint which includes all the layers, preferably in the form of an ultrasonic welded joint. In the course of the production of said ultrasonic welded joint, or afterwards, but along the joining region of this joint, the individual wound dressing products are then singularized. The width of the joint transverse to its longitudinal extent is preferably very low, meaning that a barely perceptible, laterally minimally protruding product edge is perceptible on the finished singularized product. When saline aqueous solution, especially Ringer's solution, is lastly applied to the wound dressing by the manufacturer, the shell layer 8 which faces away from the wound and the shell layers 10a, b which face the wound are stretched away from one another as a result of swelling of the suction/rinsing body 4, giving rise to the impression of a highly planar, peripherally rounded wound pad.

[0030] Before the application of saline aqueous solution, a coating 22 which is applied in a partial and structured manner and which acts atraumatically is provided on the wound-facing outer side 20 of the wound-facing shell layer 8. Said coating 22 is preferably a silicone coating, the coating being formed porously and, in the case depicted by way of example, by a plurality of comparatively thin strips 24 or lines or island-shaped regions, which are separated from one another by noncoated regions. In said noncoated regions, the wound-facing shell layer 8 is exposed to the wound. In this respect, the atraumatically acting coating 22 forms a projection in the order of magnitude stated in the introduction to the description, resulting in, firstly, it being possible to prevent the shell layer 8 adhesively bonding to wound tissue and, secondly, it being possible to maintain a certain minimal distance between the wound-facing shell layer 8 and the wound tissue, resulting in the porous shell layer material remaining open in a three-dimensional manner and providing or maintaining a relatively low resistance for the passge of fluid in both directions over the service life of the wound dressing.

[0031] The above-described atraumatically acting coating can be provided in the wound-facing shell layer either before or after the singularization of the wound dressing products. To this end, it is possible to use a dispensing machine of the type described in WO 2011/141454 A1. Only afterwards is saline aqueous solution applied to the now singularized wound dressings. Added to said saline solution is a substance with antimicrobial action, which substance is cationic in a moist or moist/wet wound environment at pH levels in the slightly acidic to neutral range from pH 4 to 7.5. This cationic substance with antimicrobial action is attracted by negative groups of the anionic superabsorbent material such that it, even in the fluid-exchanging operation of the suction/rinsing body 4, remains bound to the superabsorbent materials, i.e., is as far as possible not released into the wound environment. This prevents a multiplication of pathogens introduced into the suction/rinsing body 4 with wound secretion, and, as a result, a reverse contamination in the direction of the wound is prevented as far as possible. It has been found that such a microbiological reverse contamination could be prevented as far as possible for 72 h, and this is due to the fact that the antimicrobially acting substance, owing to its cationic state, is held in an evenly distributed manner within the suction/rinsing body 4 in connection with the superabsorbent materials.

[0032] In an exemplary preferred composition of the wound dressing 2, the fibrous web base of the suction/rinsing body 4 consists of 33 g/m.sup.2 cellulose fibers (pulp), 11 g/m.sup.2 polypropylene/polyethylene fibers as binding fibers. 70 g/m.sup.2 of the aforementioned superabsorbent polymer materials (SAP) are homogeneously admixed with this fiber mixture. Moreover, the thus obtained mixture (fibrous web base+SAP), which forms the suction/rinsing body 4, can be surrounded by a cellulosic tissue layer, especially of a surface weight of, by way of example, 17 g/m.sup.2 on each side (not depicted in the figure); however, this is not absolutely necessary. The wound dressing can, by way of example, be round, having an exemplary dimension of the suction/rinsing body 4, which substantially corresponds to the dimension of the wound dressing 2, of diameter 5.5 cm. Lastly, the wound dressing 2 has been activated with 8 ml of Ringer's solution, this substantially corresponding here to a saturation of the suction/rinsing body with fluid. The cover 6 is as described above.

[0033] FIG. 2 clarifies the partial and structured application of the atraumatic coating 22, which is applied as strips, i.e., in the form of strips 24, using the parameters specified at the start.