Dressing (medical)
Dressing (medical)
A Dressing (pronunciation: /ˈdrɛsɪŋ/) is a sterile pad or compress applied to a wound to promote healing and protect the wound from further harm. A dressing is designed to be in direct contact with the wound, as distinguished from a bandage, which is most often used to hold a dressing in place.
Etymology
The term 'dressing' comes from the Old French 'drecier', meaning to prepare or arrange. In the context of medicine, it refers to the act of applying a protective cover to a wound.
Types of Dressings
There are many different types of dressings, including:
- Gauze: This is a thin, translucent fabric with a loose open weave. It is used to absorb bodily fluids and keep the wound clean.
- Hydrocolloid dressing: This type of dressing is used on burns, light to moderately draining wounds, necrotic wounds, under compression wraps, pressure ulcers, and venous ulcers.
- Hydrogel dressing: This type of dressing is for wounds with little to no excess fluid, painful wounds, necrotic wounds, pressure ulcers, donor sites, second degree or higher burns, and infected wounds.
- Alginate dressing: This type of dressing is used for moderate to high amounts of wound drainage, venous ulcers, packing wounds, and pressure ulcers in stage III or IV.
- Collagen dressing: This type of dressing is used for chronic wounds, ulcers, bedsores, transplant sites, surgical wounds, second degree or higher burns, and wounds with large surface areas.
Related Terms
- Bandage: A bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body.
- Wound: A wound is a type of injury which happens relatively quickly in which skin is torn, cut, or punctured (an open wound), or where blunt force trauma causes a contusion (a closed wound).
- Ulcer: An ulcer is a sore on the skin or a mucous membrane, accompanied by the disintegration of tissue. Ulcers can result in complete loss of the epidermis and often portions of the dermis and even subcutaneous fat.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Dressing (medical)
- Wikipedia's article - Dressing (medical)
This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.
Languages: - East Asian
中文,
日本,
한국어,
South Asian
हिन्दी,
Urdu,
বাংলা,
తెలుగు,
தமிழ்,
ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian
Indonesian,
Vietnamese,
Thai,
မြန်မာဘာသာ,
European
español,
Deutsch,
français,
русский,
português do Brasil,
Italian,
polski