Effectiveness of the hydrogel dressing crosslinked and sterilized by gamma radiation

Abstract

Chronic wounds of difficult cicatrization are more incidents with an increased in life expectancy. The hydrogel with silver nanoparticles developed at the Nuclear Energetic Research Institute, crosslinked and sterilized by Gamma radiation, is inexpensive and has a simple manufacturing process that seems to be an alternative to the treatment of injuries. This experimental study compared the healing process of second intention of skin wounds of 4cm² on the back of 69 Wistar rats, considering the effectiveness of hydrogel dressings with silver nanoparticles. The animals were distributed in three groups that received treatment with hydrogel dressing, hydrogel with 22ppm of silver nanoparticles and hydrogel with 44ppm of silver nanoparticles, and the dressings were performed every 48 hours. The project was approved by the Animal Experiments Committee. Hydrogel dressings are transparent and allow accurate visualization of the center of the lesion. The part of the dressing in contact with the wound kept the medium moist, promoting interaction with the fluid of the lesion, besides adsorbing the moisture produced. The dressing replacement didn’t cause discomfort or pain, since the animals were manually contained during the procedure, and the cover is easy to remove without causing trauma to the healing tissue. Wounds remained free of fibrin formation and necrosis, and serous exudation of lesions was scarce. At 21 days all the lesions were healed showing that dressings weren’t negative to the second intention healing process.