Wound care professionals need to do a better job of balancing the use of antimicrobial products for healing with concerns about “uncontrolled” reliance amid increasing antibiotic resistance, British researchers warn.
“The use of antimicrobials to treat infection in these wounds is prevalent, but there is now an imperative to align treatment with reducing antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship,” Karen Ousey, a professor of skin integrity and chair of the International Wound Infection Institute UK, wrote in June’s Journal of Wound Care.
Researchers reviewed 178 studies to identify criteria for ideal post-surgical wound dressings to overcome infection while supporting stewardship objectives.
Antimicrobial wound dressings can be especially helpful in preventing infection of surgical wounds, and in some cases, they may replace the use of systemic antibiotics. However, the authors noted, the dressings must be closely monitored in case the wound fails to respond. Providers can also consider non-antibiotic antimicrobials including silver, povidone-iodine and cadexomer iodine.
From the July/August 2023 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
