Electron beam crosslinked PEO and PEO PVA hydrogels for wound dressing

In order to prepare polyethylene oxide (PEO) hydrogel for wound dressing, d ifferent molecular weight PEO and PEO/poly(vinyl alcohol), PVA blend hydrog els were obtained with electron beam irradiation. Gel formation of PEO in a queous solution was saturated at 40 kGy and the achieved gel fraction was 6 0-70%. The PEO hydrogel obtained was very fragile, hence PVA was added at 1 0-30% to give toughness to the PEO hydrogel. The PEO/PVA hydrogel blend sho wed satisfactory properties for wound dressing. To evaluate the healing eff ect of PEO/PVA hydrogel blend for dressing, the hydrogel covered a wound fo rmed on the back of marmots. Healing under the wet environment of the hydro gel dressing had some advantages compared with that of gauze dressing which gives a dry environment: (1) the healing rate is faster, (2) easier to cha nge the dressing, i.e. the hydrogel can be peeled off without any damage to the regenerated surface, and (3) no dressing material remains on the wound . (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.