Wound Dressings Market Dynamics

Injury involving dissection of tissues or rupture of the membrane caused by external aggression or some involuntary activity, called as Wound. In order to heal this wound properly, and to prevent it from further harm, a sterile pad or compress is applied over the wound known as dressing.

Lately, a growing field of wound care management has witnessed an incorporation of advanced and innovative features in wound care products by companies operating in this market. These companies also have focus on acquisitions to strengthen their product portfolios and enhance their market positions.

Factors such as introduction of new and advanced wound dressing products along with tremendous support in the form of funds and grants from various government bodies across the globe are fueling the growth of this market. Besides, technological advancements in wound care management, prevalence of obesity-related diseases, such as diabetes, and increasing aging population are also contributing factors for the growth of this market. However, the high cost of active wound care treatments and products may restrain the market’s growth.

Basically wound dressings are divided into traditional wound dressings and advanced wound dressings. The advanced wound dressings segment is estimated to account for the largest share in the global wound dressings market in 2016. There are various types of advanced wound dressings available in market amongst which, foam dressings is the largest segment, while alginate dressings is the fastest-growing segment. The high share of foam dressings is attributed to increasing patient awareness about advanced wound products, increasing incidences of diabetes, and increase in aged population. While, the fastest growing segment - alginate dressings reduces pain and keep the tissue moist during healing; they are also biodegradable. These advantages are expected to drive the growth of the alginate dressings segment.

Like advanced wound dressings, there are various types of traditional wound dressings also available in the market. Among the types of traditional wound dressings, Anti-infective dressings segment is growing at the highest CAGR during the forecast period (2016-2021). Anti-infective dressings are widely used after surgeries to prevent hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Increasing number of surgeries and regulatory policies of infection control authority of countries have increased the demand for anti-infective wound dressings. However, traditional wound care products take more time to heal wounds and are less effective as compared to advanced and active wound care products. Furthermore, these products cannot be used for treating all types of wounds, especially burnt wounds. Due to these limitations, the traditional wound care market is expected to witness decelerating growth.

Wound dressing have various application areas such as surgical wounds, diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, venous ulcers, burns, and others, of which the surgical wounds is the major application area (estimated for 2016). But soon this position is expected to be captured by diabetic foot ulcer (application) segment. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (Source: Cellular and Molecular Basis of Wound Healing in Diabetes by Brem, H, Journal of Clinical Investigation), 15% of the total diabetic population suffers from diabetic foot ulcers. Therefore, the increasing patient pool of diabetic will increase number of cases affected with diabetic foot ulcers.

Geographically, North America (comprising the U.S. and Canada) is estimated as the largest wound dressings market in 2016 globally. This large share can be attributed to the large population of patients with chronic wounds. In the U.S., chronic wounds affect 6.5 million patients annually and over USD 25 billion is spent on their treatment. Furthermore, the need for post-surgical wound dressings is on the rise. According to the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics, 40 million inpatient surgical procedures were performed in the U.S. in 2000, which increased to 48 million in 2009.

The wound dressing market is a competitive market with a large number of companies operational in the market. Major companies operating in this market are Acelity L.P., Inc. (U.S.), Smith & Nephew plc (U.K.), Mölnlycke Healthcare (Sweden), Medline Industries, Inc. (U.S.), Organogenesis Inc. (U.S.), Integra LifeSciences Corporation. (U.S.), MiMedx Group, Inc. (U.S.), and other.