3M Tegaderm™ High Integrity Alginate Dressing — Structured Gel, One-Piece Removal, 4"×4" Sheet & 12" Rope

A gel-forming calcium alginate dressing engineered to retain its structural integrity when fully saturated — for clean one-piece removal with minimal gel residue on moderate to heavily exuding wounds. 3M Tegaderm™ High Integrity (HI) Alginate Dressing is a soft, highly conformable sterile primary wound dressing that converts to a gelatinous mass as it absorbs wound exudate, maintaining the moist wound healing environment essential for tissue repair. What distinguishes the High Integrity variant from standard gelling alginates is its structural design: as it absorbs exudate and gels, the dressing maintains cohesion and form under saturation rather than becoming an amorphous mass. This retained structure enables the gelled dressing to be lifted from the wound bed in a single piece at dressing change, with minimal gel residue left in the wound — reducing the need for wound irrigation and minimizing wound disruption at each change. Compatible with 3M Tegaderm cover dressings for a single-manufacturer system. Currently manufactured and distributed by Solventum (formerly 3M Health Care). Available in 4"×4" sheet (#90112) and 12" rope (#90120).

✔ High Integrity Design — Retains Structure When Saturated for Quick, Easy One-Piece Removal    ✔ Minimal Gel Residue — Less Wound Irrigation Needed at Dressing Change    ✔ Gel-Forming — Maintains Optimal Moist Wound Healing Environment    ✔ Compatible with 3M Tegaderm Cover Dressings — Single-Manufacturer System

Product Details & Available Sizes

Indicated For — Wound Types

• Pressure injuries — moderate to heavily exuding stages
• Venous and arterial leg ulcers — including under compression bandaging systems
• Diabetic foot ulcers with moderate to heavy drainage
• Lacerations and skin abrasions with significant exudate
• Graft and donor sites
• Post-operative surgical wounds with moderate to heavy output
• First and second degree burns
• Cavity, tunnel, and sinus wounds — using rope form for packing
• Wounds where minor bleeding control support is needed — alginate supports hemostasis
• Sloughy wounds requiring autolytic debridement support in a moist wound environment

Do not use on: Minimally exuding or dry wounds (the dressing may adhere if wound drainage is insufficient). Third-degree burns. Patients with known sensitivity to alginates. Not for surgical implantation or control of heavy arterial bleeding. Not for re-use.

High Integrity vs. High Gelling — Choosing the Right Tegaderm Alginate

3M Tegaderm Alginate is available in two clinically distinct variants that differ in how the gel behaves when saturated. Understanding the difference is the key to selecting the correct product for the wound:

• High Integrity (HI) — Item #90112 / 90120 (this product): The gel formed on contact with exudate retains its structural integrity and cohesion even under full saturation. The dressing holds together as a structured mass rather than becoming fluid or amorphous, enabling one-piece removal with minimal gel residue remaining in the wound bed. This is the correct choice for moderate to heavily exuding wounds where the high fluid volume would cause a standard high-gelling alginate to lose form, and where clean one-piece removal with minimal wound disruption and irrigation is a priority
• High Gelling (HG) — Item #90212 / 90220: Designed to become a soft, amorphous gel-like mass when saturated. The high-gelling formulation maximizes conformity to the wound bed geometry and provides a very high moisture content at the wound surface, making it ideal for shallow, moist draining wounds where deep intimate wound bed contact and a maximally moist environment are the clinical priority, and where the wound exudate level is sufficient to keep the gel mobile but not so heavy that dressing integrity at removal is the primary concern

In practical terms: if the wound is heavily draining and clean one-piece removal without residue is the priority, choose High Integrity. If the wound is moderately draining and optimal moisture at the wound surface is the priority, High Gelling may be more appropriate.

How High Integrity Alginate Works

Calcium alginate wound dressings operate through an ion exchange mechanism: when the dry alginate fiber contacts wound exudate, the sodium ions present in wound fluid displace the calcium ions in the alginate structure, causing the fibers to absorb fluid and transition from a dry fibrous pad to a soft gel. The High Integrity formulation is specifically engineered so that the gel formed during this process maintains physical cohesion under the full fluid load typical of moderate to heavily exuding wounds. While a standard or high-gelling alginate may become a loose, semi-fluid mass when saturated, the HI formulation retains enough structural integrity to function as a removable unit — the saturated dressing can be grasped and lifted cleanly, with the gel remaining bound to the fiber matrix rather than separating and spreading across the wound bed.

• Alginate fibers activate immediately on contact with wound exudate — no pre-moistening required
• Calcium-to-sodium ion exchange converts dry fiber pad to a moist, confor