| abstract |
An absorbent adhesive dressing is disclosed which is intended for use in treating wounds of the ulcer and burn type where there is significant wound exudate, which has a three layer sandwich-type construction having an occlusive film (e.g. polyethylene, polypropylene etc.) as the outer layer, an absorbent layer of fibers (e.g. cellulose, synthetic fibers etc.) as the middle layer, and a wet-stick adhesive as the inner wound facing adhesive layer, wherein said adhesive layer is a continuous, substantially non-porous layer having a porosity of less than 0.5 cc/sec/in<2> which is made from an acrylic polymer having both hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics (e.g. a wet-stick adhesive polymer formed from emulsion polymerization in water of N-vinyl caprolactam with n-butyl acrylate or with 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, or both, and which because of the hydrophilic nature of the polymer allows exudate to pass through the adhesive layer to the absorbent fibers of its middle layer without degrading the adhesive or its performance, and where the peripheral outer edges of the layers are optionally sealed. |