Research Progress on Antibacterial Strategies of pH-Responsive Hydrogel Dressings in Chronic Wound Management.

Chronic wound healing is a dynamic and complex physiological process. Bacterial biofilms and antibiotic resistance seriously impede the repair of chronic wounds. Traditional dressings cannot respond to the characteristic acidic microenvironment (pH 4.5-6.5) of infected wounds, making it difficult to achieve targeted antibacterial effects. pH-responsive hydrogels can precisely release antibacterial components through acid triggering. They can specifically recognize the changes in the acidic micro environment created by bacterial metabolites, and then achieve the on-demand release of functional components, showing great potential in chronic wound management. This paper systematically reviews the dynamic cross-linking mechanism of pH-responsive hydrogel dressings, focuses on summarizing their antibacterial strategies, summarizes their functional characteristics in controlling bacterial infections, promoting tissue repair, and implementing wound monitoring, and prospectively discusses their clinical translation potential.