Mepitel Alternative

[Ele_123]

The facility that I work at only has a wound care nurse M-F and the regular med-surg nurse does the daily dressing changes on the weekend. Usually there are extra dressings in a bin in the patient's room. The patient had a large/deep abdominal dehiscening wound. It was listed to place Mepitel in the base of the wound. The charge nurse and I couldn't find any in the patient's room or supply room. What is the difference between Mepitel and an oil emulsion dressing?

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

Would something like Adaptic be similar?

[Ellekat2]

Mepitel wound contact layer | Molnlycke Health Care

The above link should help you learn how Mepitel is used. I have also used it to hold degloved skin in place while the skin heals (just cover the second side with gauze) or to hold an area of skin in place when the next dressing layer may pull the skin apart. It has a larger mesh pattern that allows the drainage from a wound to drain through to another layer of dressing, usually a foam dressing. I wouldn't consider Adaptic similar; it would keep the wound moist, but not allow the wound to drain as easily. The qualities of an Adaptic or Xeroform dressing are at times not desirable in a wound when the Mepitel has been chosen.