What it means
Examples include transparent film, hydrocolloid dressings and petroleum gauze. Sealing in moisture helps some wounds heal and keeps germs out. Occlusive dressings also cover central line sites and the site where a chest tube or central line has just been removed, so that air cannot get in.
For the nurse
After removing a central line, cover the site at once with an occlusive dressing to keep air from entering the vein. Check the skin around any occlusive dressing for softening or breakdown from trapped moisture.
At a glance
| Also written | occlusive dressings |
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Related terms
central venous catheter
An IV catheter whose tip sits in a large vein near the heart, used for long-term drugs, fluids, nutrition or blood draws.
pneumothorax
Air in the space between a lung and the chest wall, which lets part or all of that lung collapse.
chest tube
A tube placed through the chest wall into the space around the lung to drain air, blood or fluid.