When a polyurethane foam dressing absorbs wound fluid, it acts like a sponge. The same is true for the majority of absorbent dressings. Additionally, pressure exerted on dressings is a factor in most chronic wound types (pressure associated with pressure ulcers, compression therapy placing pressure on dressings used to manage leg ulcers, and pressure on the bottom of the foot during walking with diabetic foot ulcers). Therefore, it is no surprise that a major concern with typical dressings is that they allow fluid to push back onto the wound bed, and they allow fluid to wick across the surface of the dressings and affect the healthy surrounding tissue outside of the wound.

XTRASORB™ is an entire line of dressings designed to overcome these basic issues. With the incorporation of super absorbent polymer technologies, these dressings can handle fluid in ways that other competitive dressings can’t.

XTRASORB™ HCS
This dressing is a novel hydrogel/hydrocolloid hybrid dressing. ½ water/glycerin mix for hydration, and the other ½ a Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose (Sodium CMC) / super absorbent polymer mix for high gelling and absorption. The result is a dressing that can act either as a hydrogel (for when the wound is dry to lightly exuding) or as a hydrocolloid (for when the wound is moderately exuding). As such, it can act as a “smart dressing” in changing wound conditions. Notably, when fluid enters the dressing, it forms a cohesive gel that stays in place – not leaving messy residue in the wound bed. This cohesive gel allows for minimal wicking across the surface, maintaining the integrity of the surrounding skin.

XTRASORB™ Foam
This dressing utilizes the same high-tensile strength gelling super absorbent polymer technology that is used in XTRASORB™ HCS. The key difference is that XTRASORB™ Foam has a highly absorptive polyurethane foam as the initial wound contact layer. This foam draws large amounts of fluid into the dressing. However, whereas most foam dressings act like sponges, holding fluid in place until it is squeezed out from external pressure, the fluid in XTRASORB™ Foam is quickly drawn in by the super absorbent polymer sheet on he back of the dressing. This keeps the fluid locked in place, away from the wound and away from surrounding tissue.

XTRASORB™
Our original XTRASORB™ dressing is for heavily to extra heavily exuding wounds. The core of the dressing is a lower tensile strength gelling super absorbent polymer pad. It immediately converts to a gel as fluid enters the dressing. Since the gelling fiber core is maintained within the dressing via a non-adherent wound contact side and coated non-woven backing side, the super absorbent polymer technology utilized in this dressing is different than the one used in XTRASORB™ HCS and Foam. For this dressing, the polymer is designed to rapidly absorb fluid, and allows for expansion of the gel. As such, the dressing is the most absorbent in the line.