Exploring innovative adhesive approaches to manage medical adhesive-related skin injuries (MARSI)

Medical adhesives are essential to secure wound care dressings and medical devices to the skin, to bind wound edges, track vital signs, or even provide local drug delivery. Despite several options in the market, most medical adhesives are composed of acrylate, hydrocolloid, and silicone, materials that are associated with the development of Medical Adhesive-Related Skin Injury (MARSI). Moreover, these injuries reduce skin integrity, causing pain, delaying wound healing, and increasing the risk of infection, consequently extending the treatment time, and impairing the quality of life and health of the patients. To prevent MARSI, a new generation of adhesives is being investigated based on the use of natural biomaterials (bio-adhesives) and/or on alterations of the adhesion mechanism that mimic the adhesion that occurs in nature, such as adhesion by hydrogen bonds and van der Waals interactions (nature-inspired adhesives). This review focuses on the advanced medical adhesives, both available and under development, to prevent the MARSI problem and to treat consequent health problems, such as skin infection and late skin regeneration.