Patent ID: 7531711

Claim:
A wound dressing having bodyside and backside surfaces, comprising: a vapor-permeable backing layer having first and second surfaces, the backing layer defining a center portion and a border portion surrounding the center portion; a skin-adherent first facing layer formed from a silicone elastomer gel and having first and second surfaces, and an uninterrupted thickness, the second surface connected to the border portion of the first surface of the backing layer, the first facing layer consisting a shape defined only by the border portion of the backing layer; an absorbent core having first and second surfaces, the second surface of the absorbent core connected to the first surface of the backing layer, a perimeter of the absorbent core defining the center portion of the dressing; a non-skin adherent and flexible covering layer having first and second surfaces, the second surface directly adjacent to and connected to the first surface of the absorbent core, the covering layer having a pattern of perforations connecting the bodyside surface of the wound dressing to the absorbent core, the covering layer having a center portion corresponding to the entirety of the absorbent core and delimited by the periphery of the absorbent core, wherein the covering layer center portion forms a center portion of the bodyside surface; and a carrier layer interposed between the backing layer and the first facing layer, the carrier layer surrounding the center portion of the backing layer; wherein the first surfaces of the first facing layer and the covering layer define the entirety of the bodyside surface of the wound dressing, the first facing layer and covering layer are juxtaposed to one another with the first facing layer encircling the entirety of the center portion of the covering layer.