| 摘要 |
This invention relates to a chitinaceous wound dressing for the treatment of wounds, particularly non-healing or slow-healing wounds, comprising chitin substantially free of protein. Preferably, the wound dressings of this invention are powders of 50 mesh size or less and may be used for treating wounds in mammals by applying them directly to a wound surface to be treated. The wound dressings may be applied in amounts of about 0.01 to about 0.1 g/cm<2> of the wound surface to be treated. Methods for purifying the chitin wound dressings are also contemplated and include the steps of placing crude chitin containing material into an acid bath; then placing the chitin material into a heated caustic bath; treating the chitin material with a weak oxidizing agent; and drying the chitin material. Best results are obtained if the chitin material is further sterilized by, for example, using gamma rays and if the chitin material is ground to about a 50 mesh size or less before it is treated with the weak oxidizing agent. The oxidizing agent is most preferably hydrogen peroxide and the caustic bath solution is most preferably a 1 % sodium carbonate. |
