• Surgical dressing material is applied on the wound to expedite the process of healing and prevent further harm due to wound exposure.
• The dressing material can be primarily divided as
  1. Wound care layer and
  2. Bandage
• Bandage holds the wound care layer in place. Wound care products which are adhesive in nature are also available in the market.
• The bandage can also be used on standalone basis in case of orthopedic cases (e.g. crepe bandage).
• The type of dressing used varies based on the type of wound and location of the wound.
• Typically, the wound care products consist of:-
  1. Absorbent pad
  2. Non-adhering/dressing
  3. Adhering pads or adhesive plaster
• The wound contact material is available in both woven and non-woven forms.
• The bandage products consist of:-
  1. Rolled Bandage
  2. Gauze bandage
  3. Elastic/Non-elastic bandage
  4. Light support bandage

• The raw materials for surgical dressings are cotton fibre, viscose, polyester and acrylic.

• The materials included under surgical dressings are:
  1. Rolled bandages,
  2. Crepe bandages,
  3. Plaster-of-Paris bandages,
  4. Absorbent gauze pack,
  5. plaster,
  6. absorbent pads and
  7. Surgical pads.
• The functional properties like absorbency are improved for dressing material.
• Additionally, these products could be sterilized or non-sterilized.
• The wound contact layer is either woven medicated layer or non-woven medicated layer.
• The wound contact layer is non-adherent and permits fresh tissue to develop easily. Non-adherent hypoallergenic, gamma sterile dressing allows simple wound-drainage. It is comforting, enhances curing in burns, skin implant, skin loss and lacerated wounds.
• The bandages provide support to the dressing material and function as compression material. Cotton gauze cloth is generally used for holding wound contact layer in place which is tied at the ends or joints using adhesive tape. Bandages are also made from polyester yarns. The bandages have a basis weight in the range of 55-60 GSM.

1. Crepe bandages /compression bandages

• They are knitted bandages made from thick woven polyester fabric which have an elastic behavior and porous nature for skin breathing.
• These bandages are used on limbs to create resting pressure and working pressure for the treatment.
• The crepe bandages are manufactured by weaving and warping the yarn and then processed to give properties like stretch ability.
• The crepe bandages are available is various sizes like 5, 7.5, 15 centimeter x 3 meter.

2. Plaster-of-Paris (POP) bandages:

• They are made of cotton gauze of leno weave cloth with Plaster-of-Paris impregnated.
• The leno weave holds the POP material in the fabric.
• The bandage is dipped in water and applied on the limb which would graduate into a hard cast once dried.
• The POP bandages are available is various sizes like ~10, 15, 20 centimeter x 3 meter.

3. Dressing pads and absorbent gauze:

• Generally they have basis weight of around 30 GSM.
• These pads and absorbents are available across various sizes.

4. Cohesive bandages:

• These stick to themselves and not to the user‘s skin.
• Hence, they are suited for skin protection applications.
• Adhesive plaster (medicated or not medicated) is available in various lengths and shapes.
• The wound dressing material should be germ-free, breathable and should provide a moist healing atmosphere. The healing environment then decreases the danger of contamination and aid the wound heal more rapidly. All the surgical bandage stuff is likely to be ISI, USP or BP compliant.