What types of plasters are there?

Traditional plasters are mainly fabric plasters. Modern wound plasters include interactive wound plasters, calcium alginate plasters, silver plasters, foam plasters, and hydrogel plasters. Next is a detailed description of plaster types.

Here is the content list:

l Film plaster

l Hydrocolloid plaster

l Foam plasters

l Medicinal plaster

l New alginate plaster

Film plaster

The film plaster is mainly composed of polyurethane material and desensitized medical adhesive, with two layers inside and outside. The inner layer is a hydrophilic material that can absorb traumatic exudate, while the outer layer has good breathability and elasticity.

The characteristics of such clear waterproof plasters are transparent, easy to observe the wound, closely adhering to the trauma surface, effectively keeping the trauma exudate, thus providing a moist environment conducive to trauma healing and prompting necrotic tissues to fall off. The disadvantage is that the detectable plaster has poor water absorption performance and is easy to cause the accumulation of submembrane exudate after absorption saturation, which may induce or aggravate infection, so it is only suitable for relatively clean trauma and not for trauma with a lot of exudates.

Clinical studies have shown that the application of this type of plaster in tracheostomy care and central venous placement maintenance is effective in preventing infection and improving patient comfort and quality of life, which is worthy of clinical application.

Hydrocolloid plaster

Hydrocolloid plaster is formed by mixing gelatin, pectin, and carboxymethyl cellulose with hydrocolloid particles. It is mainly applied to the prevention and treatment of pressure sores of stage I and II, the treatment of burns and plastic skin supply area, the treatment of all kinds of superficial external wounds and plastic and cosmetic wounds, the prevention and treatment of chronic wound epithelial formation period and phlebitis, etc.

Foam plasters

Newer foam plasters have a hydrophobic outer layer and a hydrophilic inner layer. These waterproof wound dressings are porous, have low surface tension, are elastic, malleable, and lightweight, and can absorb up to 10 times the mass of the plaster itself in terms of exudate.

The treatment of traumatic exudates by foam plasters is controlled by the mechanism of water vapor transfer and absorption, and they are malleable and can be made in various thicknesses, providing better protection for traumatic surfaces. Currently, the most used materials are polyurethane foam and polyvinyl alcohol foam. The disadvantages of this waterproof plaster are poor adhesion and the need for external fixation materials; the plaster is opaque, making it difficult to observe the trauma; the pores of the plaster are large, making it easy for trauma granulation tissue to grow in, making it difficult to decontaminate, and vulnerable to bacterial contamination.

Medicinal plaster

The medicinal plaster is impregnated or coated with drugs on the plaster, such as ointment plaster, disinfectant plaster, and Chinese medicine plaster, etc. It has the functions of protecting the trauma, relieving pain, stopping bleeding, anti-inflammation, promoting the growth of new granulation tissue and epithelial cells, and accelerating the healing of trauma. For example silver sulfadiazine plaster and titanium dioxide antibacterial plaster with antibacterial effect, lidocaine plaster with an anti-inflammatory effect, Chinese herbal plaster with rapid pain relief, hemostatic and anti-inflammatory function.

New alginate plaster

The main component is taken from algae in seawater, it is a plaster made by using the insoluble polysaccharide alginate in algae which is similar to cellulose. Alginate can combine with metal ions to form salts, which are good carriers of various metal ions, and the common ones are calcium alginate and zinc alginate plasters.

Calcium alginate plaster does not cause pain caused by fresh granulation injury during replacement and is easily accepted by patients. It can also achieve hemostatic function through calcium and sodium ion exchange, and also has the function of adsorbing bacteria and preventing them from entering the trauma. Studies have shown that zinc alginate salt plaster has a good coagulation effect and enhances platelet activity.

Suzhou DoCare Co., Ltd produces a wide range of plasters and Sports Bandages . If you are interested in our company, you can contact us.