A novel double-layered polymeric nanofiber-based dressing with controlled drug delivery for pain management in burn wounds

Abstract

Localized application of drugs at specific wound area has many advantages and less side effects as compared with other drug administrative routes. Burn patients suffer from swear pain, and the major focus of medical practitioners includes pain and infection management. Advancements in material science, especially nanofibers, have gained a lot of attention in various applications such as filtration, nanocomposites, protection and medical sciences. Nanofibers (NFs) loaded with drug, applied on local wound area, can reduce the side effects as well as can provide quick action. This study dealt with the fabrication of drug-loaded NFs for better pain management with controlled drug release. Two layers of NFs were fabricated with different drugs using electrospinning. Contact layer of polyethylene oxide nanofibers was loaded with gabapentin (a nerve pain killer) for quick action followed by second layer of sodium alginate nanofibers with acetaminophen (mild pain killer) for synergizing the effect. The fabricated dressing was characterized using scanning electron microscope, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, UV–Vis spectroscopy, drug release rate and liquid absorption tests. Different drug release kinetic models were applied to the experimental data, and drug release from the first layer was best followed by first-order kinetic model, while, the second layer was best described by Hixson–Crowell kinetic model. The combination of quick release of strong nerve pain killer followed by slow release of mild pain killer could be a good tool to reduce pain scores in a more professional manner with less side effects in burn patients.