Therapeutic potential of silver nanoparticle-based dressing in the healing process

Introduction: The skin covers the entire surface of the human body, and is considered its largest organ. The resistance of bacteria to antibiotics represents a growing concern in wound infections, this is evidenced by the fact that wounds associated with a heavy bacterial load often present healing failures, increasing healthcare costs for the patient and healing time. Objective: To evidence through national and international literature the therapeutic potential of silver nanoparticle-based dressings in the healing process. Methodology: This is a literature review of a dissertative and explanatory nature. To theoretically support this review, the Brazilian Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (BDTD) and the Nursing Databases (BDENF) were used. The search period was from February to April 2022, with temporal delimitation from 2017 to 2022, because these were the years that most studies on the topic of interest were obtained. The Boolean searchers (AND and OR) were used: ¬ "Nanoparticle-based dressing OR "Pressure injury" AND "Nanoprene therapy" AND "Multiprofessional team" in BDENF and BDTD, interrelated with the Boolean operators AND and OR. This study included original articles, available in full, case studies, clinical studies, randomized studies, theses and dissertations on the topic in question, published from 2016 to 2022, in English and Portuguese. As exclusion criteria, it was decided not to use articles that were not adjusted to the object of study, which ran away from the theme proposed by the authors, those that were duplicated in electronic databases, incomplete texts, unavailable in full, literature reviews, guides, technical manuals and letters to the reader. A total of 211 articles were found in the BDTD and 17 in the BDENF database, totaling 228 studies found. Of these, after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 211 were excluded and 17 studies were selected because they met the study objective. Results: The AgNP-based dressing, presents great potential in pharmaceutical, therapeutic and biomedical applications, and can be applied in the composition of topical products such as ointments, gels and adhesives.Conclusion: Dressings based on silver nanoparticles (AgNP) are being widely used in biomedical sciences, being relevant to circumvent bacterial resistance to antibiotics, improving the quality of life of affected patients and consequently reducing hospital costs.