Review of Biodegradable Dressings for Chronic Wounds

Chronic wounds represent a heavy burden in health care, with continuously increasing prevalence and treatment costs. Traditional wound dressings are most often produced using synthetic polymers and face important environmental issues due to their nonbiodegradable character. Biodegradable wound dressings offer an environmentally friendly alternative while also providing essential properties like maintaining moisture, being antimicrobial, and compatible with healing processes. This review covers recent developments concerning biodegradable dressings, particularly focusing on starch/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) - based films combined with additives like nano-zinc oxide (nZnO) to enhance antibacterial and mechanical properties.