Recent Applications and Evaluation of Metal Nanoparticle–Polymer Hybrids as Chronic Wound Dressings

Abstract

Chronic wounds, which include venous leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, and pressure ulcers, are a global health issue that affects between 1% and 2% of the developed world’s population. Chronic wound healing necessitates extensive medical intervention at costly healthcare expenses. Wound care management is mainly dependent on the discovery of new and appropriate chronic wound dressing materials, and it remains a focus of research in chronic wound care. Biocompatible metallic nanoparticle-loaded wound dressing offers a novel opportunity for effectively overcoming the inherent drawbacks of traditional wound dressing materials, particularly in overcoming nonhealing chronic wounds due to their clinical complexity, for example, wound infections, chronic irritation, and trauma, persistence of foreign body or bacterial proteins, and ischemia. In this review, we will primarily focus on the advancements in nanoparticle-based antibacterial and antioxidant wound dressing materials (e.g., hydrogels, electrospun scaffolds, sponges, and films) for the treatment of chronic wounds, which overcome the limitations of traditional dressings.