Managing the diabetic foot is a complex process and includes antibiotic therapy, regular and thorough wound debridement, and the application of appropriate wound dressings. Wound dressings range from simple saline-soaked cotton pads, hydrocolloids, foams, and gels to more advanced wound care treatments such as skin substitutes. Although successful for some, many patients do not respond to conservative treatment modalities. As a result, the selection of an appropriate wound dressing from the dozens of choices available on the market is critical to success. However, currently there is no method to obtain consistent, timely, and actionable data related to wound progression. Moreover, those patients who do not respond to conservative treatment modalities may benefit from a more active treatment. Yet, the majority of currently available wound dressings are designed to merely protect the wound and keep it moist, with little to no bioactive elements. Therefore, a multifunctional hydrogel dressing that can deliver bioactive healing compounds that correct the underlying problem in diabetic wounds - dysfunctional inflammation - holds great potential for the treatment of nonhealing wounds.
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