Abstract
SIGNIFICANCE: Successful treatment of wounds relies on precise control and continuous monitoring of the wound-healing process. Wet or moist treatment of wounds has been shown to promote re-epithelialization and result in reduced scar formation, as compared to treatment in a dry environment. RECENT ADVANCES: By treating wounds in a controlled wet environment, delivery of antimicrobials, analgesics, other bioactive molecules such as growth factors, as well as cells and micrografts, is allowed. The addition of growth factors or transplantation of cells yields the possibility of creating a regenerative wound microenvironment that favors healing, as opposed to excessive scar formation. CRITICAL ISSUES: Although several manufacturers have conceived products implementing the concept of moist wound healing, there remains a lack of commercial translation of wet wound-healing principles into clinically available products. This can only be mitigated by further research on the topic. FUTURE DIRECTIONS: The strong evidence pointing to the favorable healing of wounds in a wet or moist environment compared to dry treatment will extend the clinical indications for this treatment. Further advances are required to elucidate by which means this microenvironment can be optimized to improve the healing outcome.