Wound dressings, methods for forming the wound dressings, and methods for using the wound dressings are described. Wound dressings include a crosslinked hydrogel matrix and a plurality of porous absorbent microspheres encapsulated in the crosslinked matrix. The hydrogel matrix and the microspheres can include the same or different hydrogel polymers, e.g., alginates or the like. The wound dressings can be used in treating chronic wounds and burn wounds and can promote autolytic debridement.