Hydrocolloid Dressings for Pressure Injuries

Recommendations

• The American College of Physicians recommends hydrocolloid or foam dressings as first‑line therapy for patients with pressure injuries to reduce wound size (weak recommendation, low‑quality evidence) 1, 2, 3.

Comparative Effectiveness

• Hydrocolloid dressings are superior to traditional gauze for decreasing the surface area of pressure injuries 1, 4, 5.
• Hydrocolloid dressings achieve complete healing rates comparable to foam (hydrocellular or polyurethane) dressings (moderate‑quality evidence) 1, 2, 3.

Safety

• The most frequently reported adverse events with topical wound dressings are skin irritation, inflammation, tissue damage, and maceration 1, 4.
• Current evidence is insufficient to determine whether any specific dressing type results in fewer adverse events than others 1, 2, 3.

Adjunctive Therapies

• Protein or amino‑acid supplementation may reduce wound size in pressure injuries (weak recommendation, low‑quality evidence) 1, 2, 4.
• Electrical stimulation can accelerate healing of stage 2–4 pressure ulcers (weak recommendation, moderate‑quality evidence) 1, 2, 6.

Evidence Gaps

• Evidence is insufficient to comment on the rate of complete wound closure as a final outcome; most studies measured only reduction in wound size 1, 2, 3.
• The relationship between early wound‑size reduction and eventual complete healing has not been clearly defined 1, 2.