This study compares the costs of dressings used in the treatment of patients with a variety of wound aetiologies. The two dressings investigated were a hydrocolloid dressing and a hydrocellular dressing. Secondary objectives included a comparison of dressing durability, time to complete healing, ease of wound cleansing and dressing removal. The study was an open prospective single-centre randomised parallel group trial involving 100 patients, treated in the community, who were randomised to the two dressing groups. For all aetiologies except pressure sores, the costs of the hydrocolloid dressing were less than the costs of the hydrocellular dressings. Similar healing rates were observed in the leg ulcer and 'other wound' groups. There were, however, significant differences in the number of healed wounds observed in patients with pressure sores treated with the hydrocellular dressing.