Alginate-aloe vera film contains zinc oxide nanoparticles with high degradability and biocompatibility on post-cesarean wounds

Background: Delayed cesarean section (CS) healing causes stress, recurrent infections, and mental distress to the mother after parturition. In this study, an attempt was made to increase the speed of wound healing with alginate-aloe vera/ZnO NPs film plus mupirocin. Methods: 800 pregnant women in two groups of control (normal cream + mupirocin) and film-treated (alginate aloe vera/ZnO NPs film + mupirocin) underwent CS in the second affiliated hospital of Xi'an Medical School. After 12 and 24 days, the wound healing process was assessed using the REEDA wound scale. ZnO NPs and films were prepared through chemically and solvent-casted ways, respectively. The physicochemical properties of NPs and films were also investigated by SEM, FTIR and in vitro degradation. Results: The outputs showed that the NPs were successfully loaded onto the prepared film and the film was easily digested in SBF solution. The results also showed no difference in demographic characteristics such as age, BMI, education and economic levels between the two groups. But the film-treated group had lower values of redness, ecchymosis, edema and CS approximation compared to the control. Finally, the recovery process of patients with alginate-aloe vera/ZnO NPs film plus mupirocin was faster than that of the control and almost none of the patients experienced an allergic reaction. Conclusion: Overall, the use of alginate-aloe vera/ZnO NPs film plus mupirocin can be considered as a new treatment to reduce the complication of CS approximation by accelerating the healing process.

Automated summary

This study aimed to accelerate wound healing in delayed cesarean section patients using alginate-aloe vera/ZnO NPs film plus mupirocin. Results showed faster recovery in the treated group compared to the control, with no allergic reactions reported. The use of this treatment may be a new approach to reduce complications in CS approximation.