In vitro study of the effectiveness of different dressings for debriding fibrin in blood clots from horses

Franz diffusion cells containing uniformly dehydrated equine blood clots to simulate fibrinous eschar were used to measure the rate of debridement of fibrin by novel and traditional wound dressings, under standardised conditions of temperature, pH and humidity. Significant increases in protein breakdown occurred within 24 hours with all the dressings, but not thereafter. In general, dressings hydrated in normal saline were better as debriding agents than dressings hydrated in water. Autolytic debriding agents were 47 per cent more effective than chemical debriding agents; specifically, hydrofibre and gauze dressings hydrated in saline broke down more than 3500 μg/ml of protein whereas dressings impregnated with proteolytic enzymatic agents digested less than 1400 μg/ml.