Hydrogels have been used in a wide variety of biomedical devises, particularly in the field of drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound healing. In this study, a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)polyethylene glycol (PEG) semi-interpenetrating hydrogel network (IPN)-based wound dressing system containing nitrofurazone (NFZ) was synthesized by chemical crosslinking technique. The introduction of PEG to PVA matrix led to reduction in the water vapor transmission rate, which in-turn resulted in improved healing activity. Drug-loaded IPNs were prepared by mixing aqueous solution of NFZ with the optimized PVAPEG formulation subsequent to the crosslinking step. The in vitro diffusion studies of NFZ indicated a relatively slow release of drug resulting from its microencapsulation in the polymeric matrix. Subsequently, in vivo wound healing efficacy toward acute and burn wound healing in experimental rats was investigated. Semi-IPN hydrogel loaded with NFZ dressing improved the overall healing rate in both acute and burn wounds, as evidenced by significant increase in total protein, hydroxyproline and hexosamine contents. Histological examinations also correlated well with the biochemical findings. A faster wound contraction was also observed in hydrogel treated acute and burn wounds. The results indicated that PVAPEG semi-IPN hydrogel based dressing systems containing NFZ could be used as an effective wound dressing material. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013