A Novel Spray-on Dressing is Comparable to Silver Impregnated Foam Dressing in Controlling MRSA Infection and...

Burn injuries disrupt the skin barrier, increasing susceptibility to infection, delaying healing, and can potentially becoming life-threatening. Wound dressings mitigate this risk by protecting the wound from environmental pathogens. This study evaluated a novel antimicrobial spray-on dressing designed to conform to irregular skin surfaces for its ability to control burn wound infection and promote wound healing. Evaluation was conducted in two stages. Experiment 1 used a rat scald model (n=19) inoculated with MRSA to compare the spray-on dressing's antimicrobial efficacy against silver-impregnated foam and control groups over 8 days. Experiment 2 used a porcine burn model to assess healing kinetics, skin biomechanics (elasticity, hardness), and histoarchitecture (rete ridge ratio, epidermal thickness) through Day 13.In the rat model, the spray-on dressing achieved bacterial control comparable to silver-impregnated foam; both groups demonstrated significantly lower MRSA burden compared to positive controls on Day 5 (p < 0.01), with no evidence of systemic dissemination. In the porcine model, the spray-on dressing supported timely wound closure with re-epithelialization rates comparable to the foam dressing (97.7% vs. 92.1%, p = 0.3). Skin biomechanic measurements, including tissue elasticity and stiffness, were indistinguishable from uninjured skin. Histoarchitecture analysis confirmed that the spray-on dressing facilitated a high-quality dermal-epidermal interface equivalent to the clinical standard. Overall, the novel spray-on dressing is comparable to the standard silver-impregnated foam dressing in both antimicrobial efficacy and tissue regeneration. Its superior conformability and simplified application make it a viable, efficient alternative for managing complex burn wounds in both routine and high-demand clinical settings.