To observe the effect of chitosan/alginate (CTS/ALG) dressings on wound immersed in seawater. Methods Twenty-five healthy SD rats weighing 250-300 g were used to establ ish skin wound model through cutting 1.8 cm circle-shaped wound along spine bilaterally. The left side served as experimental group, and the right side as control group. The wounds were immersed in the prepared artificial seawater for 1 hour, then the experimental group was treated with CTS/ALG dressings, while the control group was treated with sterile gauze. Gross observation was performed andwound heal ing time was recorded. At 3, 5, 7, 10 and 12 days after operation, 2 cm × 2 cm skin tissues including the wounds were removed and underwent HE staining and immunohistochemistry staining using Envision method. Histological change of wound and expression of EGF receptor (EGFR) and bFGF were observed. Results In the experimental group, wound inflammatory response was sl ight and incrustation shrinked faster, while the incrustation in the control group shrinked slowly. The wound heal ing time of the experimental group and the control group was (11.68 ± 0.57) and (12.51 ± 0.54) days, respectively, suggesting there was a significant difference between two groups (P lt; 0.05). In the experimental group, granulation tissue prol iferation, cell infiltration, collagen tissue prol iferation, wound shrinkage and epithel ization appeared at 3 days after operation; regularly l ined collagen tissue, complete epithel ization and occurrence of skin appendages were observed at 10 days after operation; complete wound heal ing was noted at 12 days after operation; while in the control group, at the corresponding time point, late cell infiltration and epithel ization were observed and granulation tissue with ulcer was noted. Immunohistochemistry observation: high expression of bFGF in vascular endothel ial cells and interstitial fibroblasts and high expression of EGFR in vascular endothel ial cells were observed in the experimental group at 3 and 5 days after operation, and their expressions were low at 7, 10 and 12 days after operation; while in the control group, there were no or low expression of bFGF and EGFR at the same time point. Conclusion CTS/ALG dressings can promote the heal ing of wound immersed in seawater, but its mechanism needsfurther study.