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Review Article

Advancing burn wound treatment: exploring hydrogel as a transdermal drug delivery system

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Article: 2300945 | Received 16 Aug 2023, Accepted 05 Dec 2023, Published online: 16 Feb 2024
 

Abstract

Burn injuries are prevalent and life-threatening forms that contribute significantly to mortality rates due to associated wound infections. The management of burn wounds presents substantial challenges. Hydrogel exhibits tremendous potential as an ideal alternative to traditional wound dressings such as gauze. This is primarily attributed to its three-dimensional (3D) crosslinked polymer network, which possesses a high water content, fostering a moist environment that supports effective burn wound healing. Additionally, hydrogel facilitates the penetration of loaded therapeutic agents throughout the wound surface, combating burn wound pathogens through the hydration effect and thereby enhancing the healing process. However, the presence of eschar formation on burn wounds obstructs the passive diffusion of therapeutics, impairing the efficacy of hydrogel as a wound dressing, particularly in cases of severe burns involving deeper tissue damage. This review focuses on exploring the potential of hydrogel as a carrier for transdermal drug delivery in burn wound treatment. Furthermore, strategies aimed at enhancing the transdermal delivery of therapeutic agents from hydrogel to optimize burn wound healing are also discussed.

Graphical Abstract

Author contributions

MeeiChyn Goh: literature search and data analysis, writing-original draft preparation, writing-review and editing. Meng Du: literature search and data analysis. Wang Rui Peng: literature search and data analysis. Phei Er Saw: conceptualization, writing-review, and editing. Zhiyi Chen: funding acquisition, supervision. All authors contributed and approved the submitted version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Consent for publication

All authors agreed with the content of this manuscript and approved the submitted version.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Key R&D Program of China (2019YFE0110400), National Natural Science Foundation of China (82272028, 81971621, 82102087), Key R&D Program of Hunan Province (2021SK2035), The Project of Science and Technology Innovation of Hunan Province (2021SK51807), Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province (2022JJ30039, 2022JJ40392).