Wound Care

280 Nurse to Nurse
Table 9–18 Advantages and Disadvantages of Osmotic
Debridement
Advantages Disadvantages
Available in many forms (e.g., May be difficult to apply depending
beads, ropes, granules, gels, pastes, on location and configuration of
and nonwoven fibrous mats). wound and product formulation.
Facilitates sharp debridement as Not available in all care settings.
it supports autolysis.
Less costly than some other Requires a secondary dressing
debridement methods. and securement.
Eliminates dead space. Must monitor for infection. Discontinue
when debridement completed.
Selective. Length of time to debridement
dependent on tissue type and
amount; usually 3 weeks or less.
NOTE: if the order is for a wet to dry dressing, it means the
dressing is intended to dry out before being removed.
• Gauze and normal saline: if the gauze dressing has been in
contact with wounded tissue, according to research by Kim
et al the dressing acts as an osmotic dressing. 1,5
— Water evaporates and the saline becomes hypertonic
— The body wants to maintain homeostasis by reestablishing
isotonicity, therefore wound fluid is drawn into the
dressing
Wound fluid contains
º Water
º Proteins
º Blood
The wound fluid forms an impermeable layer on the
dressing preventing wound fluid from “wetting” the
gauze and the dressing dries out.