Polycaprolactone-Based Nanocomposites for Wound Healing: Progress, Pitfalls, and Prospects.

Abstract

Wound healing is a dynamic and multifactorial biological process involving complex interactions among cells, cytokines, and growth factors. The development of advanced therapeutic dressings has become essential to accelerate healing, prevent infections, and minimize scar formation. Among the various biomaterials investigated, poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-based nanocomposites have attracted significant attention due to their excellent biocompatibility, controllable biodegradability, mechanical strength, and high drugloading efficiency. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the characteristics that make PCL a promising material for wound healing applications and presents an integrated analysis of various PCL-based strategies for delivering therapeutic agents across acute and chronic wound models. It covers multiple fabrication approaches, including electrospinning, nanoparticle incorporation, and surface modification, with a focus on enhancing biological performance and functional outcomes. The review also addresses key limitations associated with PCL systems, such as their inherently slow degradation rate, potential for burst drug release, and challenges related to large-scale manufacturing. Future directions emphasize the development of stimuliresponsive and multifunctional dressings, the blending of PCL with other natural or synthetic polymers, and the application of advanced technologies, such as three-dimensional bioprinting, to create patient-specific solutions. By consolidating findings from a broad spectrum of preclinical and translational studies, this review aims to offer a thorough and current understanding of the biomedical potential of PCL, the existing challenges, and the innovations required for its successful clinical application in wound care.