Smith & Nephew ALLEVYN Gentle Border Hydrocellular Foam Dressing — Triple-Action, Silicone Gel Adhesive, 8 Sizes

Triple-action hydrocellular foam that absorbs, retains, and transpires exudate — with a perforated silicone gel adhesive designed specifically for fragile and sensitive skin. ALLEVYN Gentle Border is Smith & Nephew's bordered hydrocellular foam dressing built for patients where standard adhesive dressings cause stripping, pain, or skin damage at dressing changes. Its advanced three-layer construction places an absorbent hydrocellular foam pad between a perforated silicone gel adhesive wound contact layer and a highly permeable waterproof outer film — a design that manages exudate through all three phases of fluid handling simultaneously. The silicone gel adhesive secures the dressing without bonding to the wound bed or periwound skin, allowing the dressing to be lifted for wound inspection or fully repositioned without losing its adherent properties and without causing pain or epidermal stripping on removal. No secondary retention required. Up to 7-day wear time. Available in eight sizes and configurations including square, sacrum (two sizes), heel, and multisite.

✔ Triple-Action Hydrocellular Foam — Absorbs, Retains & Transpires Exudate    ✔ Perforated Silicone Gel Adhesive — Lifts & Repositions Without Trauma or Pain    ✔ No Secondary Retention Required — Self-Adherent All-in-One Design    ✔ 8 Shapes & Sizes — Including Sacrum, Heel & Multisite Configurations

Product Details & Available Sizes

Square Sizes

Anatomical Shapes

Indicated For — Wound Types

• Pressure injuries — all stages, particularly sacral and heel wounds in patients with fragile periwound skin
• Diabetic foot ulcers — plantar surface, heel, toe, and dorsal wounds
• Venous leg ulcers and mixed etiology ulcers
• Post-surgical wounds and incisions
• Donor sites and partial thickness burns (first and second degree)
• Skin tears — particularly in elderly patients or those on anticoagulants where adhesive trauma is a key concern
• Infected wounds and malignant/fungating wounds under clinical supervision
• Any acute or chronic wound in patients with fragile, sensitive, or compromised periwound skin where a standard adhesive dressing would cause stripping or pain

How ALLEVYN Gentle Border Works — Triple-Action Hydrocellular Technology

Standard polyurethane foam dressings absorb and hold exudate passively — they fill with fluid until saturated, at which point strike-through occurs and the wound environment degrades. ALLEVYN uses hydrocellular foam technology, an engineered foam structure with a specific cellular architecture that actively manages exudate through three simultaneous and coordinated mechanisms, extending both wear time and the quality of the wound environment throughout the full change interval.

• Absorb: The hydrocellular foam pad rapidly draws exudate away from the wound bed through the perforated silicone contact layer. The perforation pattern of the gel layer allows fluid to pass freely into the foam core while the silicone layer itself remains non-adherent and undisturbed — exudate is pulled through, not pooled under the contact surface
• Retain: Once absorbed into the hydrocellular core, exudate is retained within the foam structure under compression and movement — the unique cellular foam architecture resists the rewetting (fluid squeeze-back) that occurs with standard foam under body weight or repositioning. This keeps absorbed exudate locked away from the wound bed even when the patient moves, sits, or rolls
• Transpire: The highly permeable waterproof outer film actively transmits moisture vapor out through the backing while blocking liquid ingress from external sources. This moisture vapor transmission (MVTR) function prevents overhydration under the dressing, manages the wound microclimate, and reduces the risk of periwound maceration from prolonged fluid contact — extending practical wear time beyond what a standard low-MVTR film would allow

The result is a dressing that maintains a consistently optimal moist wound environment from application through the full wear period, rather than cycling from optimal to saturated as standard foam dressings do.

The Perforated Silicone Gel Adhesive — Why It's Different from Standard Silicone

The wound contact layer of ALLEVYN Gentle Border is a perforated silicone gel — not a standard silicone adhesive film. The perforation design serves two functions simultaneously: it allows exudate to pass freely through the contact layer into the foam core (enabling the absorb phase), while the gel itself conforms to the full surface contour of the wound and periwound skin, sealing wound margins without applying concentrated adhesive force to any single point on the skin surface. This distributed, low-tack gel adhesion is the mechanism behind the "gentle" designation — the dressing holds securely under normal wear conditions but releases from intact skin with minimal peel force, and does not bond to the wound bed or fragile granulating tissue at all. The gel adhesive also allows the dressing to be lifted and repositioned before final placement without losing its adherent properties — a practical advantage on anatomically challenging sites like the heel or sacrum where initial placement is difficult.

The Anatomical Shapes — Sacrum, Heel & Multisite

Four of the eight ALLEVYN Gentle Border configurations are shaped for specific body sites where standard square or rectangular dressings fail to achieve adequate coverage or secure adhesion:

• Sacrum — 6-5/8" x 6-3/4" (66800898): Contoured sacral shape with a curved lower border that follows the gluteal cleft anatomy, providing sealed coverage across the full sacrococcygeal area. The standard sacral size for most adult patients. 10 per box
• Sacrum Large — 8-1/2" x 9" (66801031): Larger sacral coverage for bariatric patients, patients with extensive sacral wounds, or clinical protocols requiring maximum sacral area coverage. 10 per box
• Heel — 9-1/10" x 9" (66800506): Specifically shaped and sized to conform to the complex contours of the heel — an anatomical site where flat square dressings lift immediately at the edges and fail to seal. The heel shape maintains the triple-action performance across the full plantar and posterior heel surface. 5 per box
• Multisite — 6-3/4" x 7" (66800959): A versatile intermediate shape designed to work across multiple wound sites where a square doesn't conform well and a sacral or heel shape is too specialized — useful for elbow wounds, trochanteric pressure injuries, and other curved body surface locations. 10 per box

Application & Use Guide

• Cleanse the wound per established protocol and dry the periwound skin before application
• Select the appropriate size — the silicone gel border must contact intact periwound skin on all sides to seal. Total dressing size includes the border; the absorbent pad covers only the wound bed
• Remove the release liner and position the dressing with the gel adhesive face against the skin — the perforated contact layer faces the wound
• The dressing can be lifted and repositioned before pressing down firmly to finalize adhesion — use this feature to get accurate placement on the heel, sacrum, or other challenging sites before committing
• Press the border gently but firmly against the periwound skin on all sides to complete the seal
• No secondary tape, bandage, or retention dressing is required
• The dressing can be lifted during the wear period for wound inspection without losing adhesion — replace and press down to re-seal
• Change when exudate approaches the border, when the dressing is visibly saturated, or at 7 days maximum — whichever comes first
• Remove by gently lifting from a corner and peeling back slowly against the skin — the gel adhesive releases with minimal force

Choosing the Right Size

• 3" x 3" (66800276) — Smallest square; for small acute wounds, skin tears, minor post-surgical sites, and small pressure injuries in confined locations. 2" x 2" absorbent pad
• 4" x 4" (66800270) — Standard square — the most common general-purpose size for everyday wound coverage across most acute and chronic wound sites. 3" x 3" absorbent pad
• 5" x 5" (66800279) — Medium square — for wounds requiring more pad coverage than the 4x4 provides; standard diabetic foot ulcer and moderate pressure injury coverage. 4" x 4" absorbent pad
• 7" x 7" (66800280) — Large square — for large wound surface areas, heavily exuding wounds, or wounds requiring maximum flat-surface coverage. 6" x 6" absorbent pad
• Sacrum 6-5/8" x 6-3/4" (66800898) — Standard sacral shape for most adults
• Sacrum 8-1/2" x 9" (66801031) — Large sacral shape for bariatric patients or extensive sacral wounds
• Heel 9-1/10" x 9" (66800506) — Anatomically contoured for full heel coverage
• Multisite 6-3/4" x 7" (66800959) — Versatile shape for elbows, trochanters, and curved body surfaces

Not sure which size or shape is right? Call 1-866-218-0902 — Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm EST

Why Buy From Medical Department Store?

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Questions about ALLEVYN Gentle Border or any of our foam dressings? Call 1-866-218-0902 — our team is ready to help.