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Our knowledge about wound care has progressed considerably in recent years. Nonetheless there is a continuing need for new topical hydroactive gels in this field. Flamigel® (Flen Pharma NV, Kontich, Belgium) has recently been used on a limited number of burn patients. The hydroactive colloid gel maintains the wound in an ideal moist environment. The polymer in the tube is present in two physical forms-active and inactive. In a dry wound, the active polymer will release part of its moisture to hydrate the wound and to create and maintain a moist wound environment ("hydrogel" effect). The inactive polymer remains inactive. In an exuding wound, the inactive polymer is activated by the wound exudate and starts absorbing wound exudate ("hydrocolloid" effect). The absorption ceases when the entire polymer is activated and saturated with exudate. The wound itself decides whether the hydroactive gel absorbs or hydrates; hydration in case of a dry wound, absorption in case of an exuding wound. As a result, the wound is kept in a moist environment, which optimizes wound-healing speed and reduces the likelihood of scarring. This study investigated the wound-healing capacities of the hydroactive gel in wounds that have failed to respond to other treatments. .

 A new, optimized, antimicrobial enzyme system was developed for the control of wound bioburden. This Glucose oxidase-Lactoperoxidase-Guaiacol (GLG) system was analyzed for antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity. The susceptibility of a wide range of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains to the GLG-enzyme system was analyzed using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC90), minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) determination, and growth kinetics analysis. Additionally, challenge tests and cytotoxicity tests were performed with a new hydroactive alginate gel dressing with antimicrobial activity obtained by the presence of the GLG-enzyme system (Flaminal® Forte, Flen Pharma, Kontich, Belgium). All bacterial strains were susceptible to the GLG-enzyme system at low concentrations. The exact concentration required for growth arrest and cell death was dependent on the experimental design. Further, a 20% (w/v) GLG dilution showed no cytotoxicity toward fibroblasts and keratinocytes. Conversely, other antimicrobial wound-care products applied with the same dilution showed a high degree of cytotoxicity. With increasing concerns about bacterial resistance to antibiotics, this study shows that low concentrations of the GLG-enzyme system are successful in killing antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. Furthermore, results show that GLG-enzyme system combines strong antimicrobial activity with non-cytotoxicity and promotes optimal wound healing.

In past decades the gold standard for topical burn treatment was the use of silver sulfadiazine. Due to toxicity caused by the silver, the cream base itself, or a combination of both negatively influencing the wound healing process, the healthcare industry searched for alternatives. In recent years, various dressings containing silver have become available to wound professionals. Although these have been reported to be a significant improvement, the dressings still show residual cytotoxicity. Given the ongoing debate about whether and how these dressings influence cell survival, this article endeavours to clarify some of the mystique surrounding the subject. Various commercially available silver-type dressings were analysed in vitro and attention was paid to the cell death stage induced by these dressings on different cell lines. The results show that within 2 hours, for all dressings tested, cells undergo cell death and further analysis suggests that the death stage induced is dependent on the cell line and type of dressing investigated. Further, the antimicrobial activity of all dressings was analysed. The silver dressings tested have potent antimicrobial activity. Our results showed, however, that silver dressings induce rapid cell death of cells involved in wound healing. We therefore recommend the use of silver dressings only on critically contaminated wounds rather than use on a de facto basis.