Hi Tonya, thank you for your question! Current evidence suggests that when used with adequate compression in patients with venous ulcer, different types of primary dressings are equally effective as long as they are used beneath adequate compression. Thus, when choosing dressings for venous ulcers, factors such as exudate level, costs and clinicians' and patients' preference end up being important.
As for type of dressing - using exudate as a criterion, we suggest:
- Heavy exudate: specialty absorptive, hydrofiber or alginate dressings
- Moderate exudate: specialty absorptive, foam dressings
- Light exudate: non-adherent dressings or hydrocolloid
- Minimal or no exudate: non-adherent dressings, film or hydrogel
As for brands - our interactive feature matrices display several brands under each of these dressing types, including our editors' choices (we don't take paid ads :).
-Specialty absorptive matrix:
https://woundreference.com/app/features2?tid=192&pid=196-Alginate:
https://woundreference.com/app/features2?tid=149-Foam:
https://woundreference.com/app/features2?tid=175Our expert panel might also share their own individual preferences soon. Meanwhile please let us know if more information is needed. Thanks and have a nice day!
![]()
![]()