Background: Electrospun nanofibers offer a promising solution in the treatment of diabetic wounds due to the technology's ability to integrate a therapeutic agent, as well as its biodegradability, ability to act as a temporary extracellular matrix, and desirable wound dressing characteristics.
Objective: To summarize existing literature on the use of nanofiber wound dressings in diabetic models.
Methods: A scoping review was conducted to include literature investigating the application of nanofiber wound dressings loaded with a therapeutic modality in diabetic models. The query was developed using the PubMed Advanced Search Builder using key words and translated to the Embase syntax using the Embase Query Translator prior to searching both databases. Studies were excluded if they did not evaluate nanofibers as wound dressings or did not evaluate diabetic models.
Results: Compared with the standard of care, nanofiber dressings loaded with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory agents, antioxidants, growth factors, and stem cells have demonstrated improved wound healing through infection control, inflammatory modulation, angiogenesis, cellular proliferation and migration, and minimized systemic adverse effects through localized drug release. Although no nanofiber wound dressing is currently commercially available, these dressings are promising in terms of cost-efficacy (despite the likely higher up-front cost) due to the potential for decreased hospital stays, amputations, and infection through accelerated wound healing.
Conclusion: Electrospun nanofibers offer significant promise as a dressing for diabetic wound management; however, further studies are needed to evaluate the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of such treatment.
Keywords: diabetes; diabetic foot ulcers; nanofibers; wound dressing; wound healing.