Collection: Smith + Nephew Primapore

Primapore Adhesive Wound Dressings by Smith & Nephew

Some wound dressings overthink the job. A sutured wound, a clean post-surgical incision, a laceration that’s been closed and just needs to be kept clean and protected — what it needs is a dressing that stays in place, doesn’t traumatise the wound on removal, breathes, and absorbs what the wound produces without leaking through to the surface. Primapore does exactly that and nothing more complicated.

Primapore is a conformable adhesive flexible fabric dressing consisting of a breathable non-woven top layer and a low-adherent absorbent pad. It’s one of the most widely used post-operative and wound management dressings in Australia, used in hospitals, general practice, aged care, and home wound care for straightforward wound management where the clinical priority is protection, absorption, and patient comfort.

What Is Primapore?

Primapore is an island dressing — a self-adhesive dressing that combines a central absorbent pad with an adhesive border that fixes the dressing to the surrounding skin. That construction makes it self-contained and straightforward to apply without additional tapes or fixation, which is one of the reasons it’s a standard first choice for post-operative wounds and minor acute wounds.

The polyester wound contact layer enables the passage of blood or exudate into the highly absorbent pad while maintaining a good healing environment and minimal pain on dressing removal. The low-allergy acrylic adhesive is evenly spread onto the non-woven backing surface, providing safe and secure fixation over the wound site.

The Melolin pad at the centre of each dressing is a key feature of the larger clinical sizes. Melolin is a soft, low-adherent, polyester film-faced dressing material that allows exudate to pass through into the absorbent layer above while maintaining a low-adherent interface with the wound surface — which means the dressing can be removed without sticking to the wound bed and causing trauma or disruption to new tissue formation.

Clinical Indications

Primapore is indicated to dress post-operative wounds, minor cuts, abrasions, lacerations, and puncture sites where a water-resistant dressing which aids in the prevention of bacterial contamination is required. It may also be used as a secondary dressing over gels, ointments, and other primary dressings.

The post-operative indication is the primary use case for the clinical bulk sizes in this collection. After a surgical procedure, the incision site needs protection from contamination, absorption of any initial wound fluid, and a dressing that remains securely in place during patient movement and early mobilisation. Primapore’s conformable, flexible construction allows it to remain in place even on challenging areas — axillae, shoulders, abdominal curves — where flat, rigid dressings tend to lift at the edges.

Primapore can also be used on infected wounds under medical supervision, and as a secondary dressing over primary wound contact layers, gels, and ointments where additional absorption and fixation are needed.

Key Clinical Features

• Low-adherent Melolin wound contact layer. The pad has a low-adherent wound contact layer which helps to minimise disruption or trauma to the underlying tissue on removal of the dressing, which helps to reduce the risk of pain on removal. For patients having dressings changed daily or multiple times a week, this is clinically meaningful — repeated trauma to the wound bed from adherent dressings delays healing and increases patient discomfort.
• Soft breathable cover. Primapore is breathable. The dressing is permeable to moisture vapour to help prevent moisture build up beneath the dressing. Moisture accumulation under an occlusive dressing causes maceration of the surrounding skin, which compromises both wound healing and dressing adhesion. The breathable non-woven cover prevents this without exposing the wound to contamination. 
• Low-allergy acrylic adhesive. The low allergy acrylic adhesive is evenly spread onto the non-woven backing surface providing a secure dressing fixation over the wound site. The low-allergy formulation reduces the risk of adhesive reactions, which is relevant in clinical populations — post-surgical patients, older adults with fragile skin, and patients with known adhesive sensitivities.
• Conformable to body contours. Primapore is flexible and conformable to body contours even on awkward areas such as elbows. Dressings that don’t conform to body curves lift at the edges quickly, compromising the sterile barrier and requiring earlier dressing changes. Primapore’s non-woven construction moves with the skin rather than against it.
• Rounded corners. Rounded corners may help to reduce the risk of the dressing lifting or snagging, which may help to reduce the frequency of dressing change by maintaining an optimal dressing condition. A small design detail that has a real impact on dressing wear time and the frequency of unplanned changes.
• Facilitated aseptic application. The protector paper, which is slit across the width of the dressing, enables quick application without the risk of touching the absorbent pad or adhesive area with fingers or forceps. For busy clinical environments where dressing changes happen at volume, packaging that supports clean technique without slowing the process matters.

Why Buy Primapore from Platinum Health?

We stock Primapore in the three clinical bulk sizes — 20cm x 10cm, 25cm x 10cm, and 35cm x 10cm — in boxes of 20, the standard format for hospital and community nursing purchasing. Fast nationwide delivery, competitive pricing, and a price match guarantee. Bulk ordering for facilities and ongoing supply through APEX, our B2B platform. Call us on 1300 604 499 for volume pricing and supply arrangements.