Development and Characterization of a Novel, Antimicrobial, Sterile Hydrogel Dressing for Burn Wounds: Single‐Step Production with Gamma Irradiation Creates Silver Nanoparticles and Radical Polymerization

Patients with burn wounds are susceptible to wound infection and sepsis. This research introduces a novel burn wound dressing that contains silver nanoparticles (SNPs) to treat infection in a 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropane sulfonic acid sodium salt (AMPS‐Na+) hydrogel. Silver nitrate was dissolved in AMPS‐Na+ solution and then exposed to gamma irradiation to form SNP‐infused hydrogels. The gamma irradiation results in a cross‐linked polymeric network of sterile hydrogel dressing and a reduction of silver ions to form SNPs infused in the hydrogel in a one‐step process. About 80% of the total silver was released from the hydrogels after 72 h immersion in simulated body fluid solution; therefore, they could be used on wounds for up to 3 days. All the hydrogels were found to be nontoxic to normal human dermal fibroblast cells. The silver‐loaded hydrogels had good inhibitory action against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Results from a pilot study on a porcine burn model showed that the 5‐mM silver hydrogel was efficient at preventing bacterial colonization of wounds, and the results were comparable to the commercially available silver dressings (ActicoatTM, PolyMem Silver®). These results support its use as a potential burn wound dressing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 103:3244-3253, 2014