Glycosaminoglycan hydrogels as supplemental wound dressings for donor sites

Chemically crosslinked glycosaminoglycan (GAG) hydrogel films were evaluated as biointeractive dressings in a porcine model for donor-site autograft wounds. Multiple 5 x 5 x 0.03 cm(3) wounds were created on the dorsum of pigs. Half of the wounds were treated with a GAG film plus an occlusive dressing (Tegaderm(TM)), whereas the other half were treated with Tegadem(TM) alone. At 3, 5, or 7 days after surgery, the partially healed wounds were excised and evaluated histologically for three animals at each time point. By day 3, epithelial cells had proliferated and migrated from wound edges and from epithelial islands associated with residual hair follicles to begin to cover the wound bed. A statistically significant increase in coverage was observed for GAG + Tegaderm(TM)-dressed wounds than for those with Tegaderm(TM) alone at day 3 and day 5 post-surgery. By day 7, all treatment groups were completely healed. Thus, GAG hydrogels accelerated wound healing by enhancing re-epithelialization.