As per reports, more than 300 million surgeries are conducted around the world each year. People go under the knife for both medical and aesthetic reasons. Since surgeries involve cutting into the flesh and skin, they cause wounds. Hence, dressings are widely used to cover the wound, and protect it from infection. and help in healing them. Acute wounds heal rather quickly; however, chronic wounds can take months to heal, even after repetitive dressing changes.

Hence, due to the burgeoning surgery volume, P&S Intelligence expects the wound dressing market size to grow massively in the coming years. Moreover, surgery is just one reason for wounds; others include injuries (accidental or inflicted) and certain chronic diseases. For instance, 1.3 million are killed in road accidents each year, as per the World Health Organization (WHO). Some die of the physical trauma, while others die a little later, from uncontrolled blood loss. Therefore, immediate wound care is necessary to stop the loss of blood and prevent people from going into hypovolemic shock.

Similarly, more than 500 million people suffer from diabetes around the world, says the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). While it doesn’t lead to wounds on its own, it causes diabetic foot ulcers, which are considered chronic wounds. As they take longer to heal, they require a frequent application of dressing and other products. Other such wounds that require extensive and frequent dressing are venous ulcers and pressure ulcers. Further, even cancer can cause superficial wounds if it erodes through the skin. Even such wounds are long-lasting, which leads to the need for wound dressing.

Another key application of wound dressing is burns, which kill more than 180,000 people in the world, as per the WHO. Burns are caused by fire, steam, molten metals, radiation, sunlight, and corrosive chemicals, such as acids. Burns often penetrate the skin and the muscle and reach the bones, thereby causing nasty wounds. Hence, with the increasing prevalence of burns in developed and developing countries, efforts are being made to offer victims immediate and effective care, thereby propelling the demand for dressing.

Such products are characterized as traditional and advanced based on their technology and the kind of effect they have on the wound. Traditional dressings include bandages, sponges, gauzes, and abdominal pads, while advanced products include foams, films, hydrocolloids, alginates, collagen, hydrogels, Hydrofiber, superabsorbent dressings, and wound contact layers. Over time, the advanced variants have proven better, as they keep the wound area moist, allow for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, promote the production of fresh epithelial tissue, and prevent infection.

Wound dressings are widely used in inpatient and outpatient settings, of which inpatient settings consume them in the higher amounts. This is because surgical wounds are the largest application of such projects and most surgeries are conducted at proper hospitals on patients who have been admitted prior. Moreover, most of the victims of severe burns, violence, and road accidents are brought to trauma centers, which are majorly inpatient facilities at tertiary-care hospitals.

Currently, North America is the largest wound dressing market because of its advanced healthcare infrastructure. Additionally, the prevalence of cancer and diabetes is quite high in the U.S. and Canada, which leads to a high number of people with chronic wounds. Hence, since chronic wounds require frequent changes of dressings, these products witness a high-volume consumption in the continent. Further, a large number of companies offering wound dressings are operational here, which leads to their easy availability through various distribution channels.

Hence, with an increasing number of people with serious injuries, the demand for wound dressings is rising.