All About Antimicrobial Dressings

1. All About Antimicrobial Dressings Antimicrobial dressings have a vital role in wound care when it comes to the prevention and management of infection in wounds. The widespread increase in antibiotic-resistant organisms has resulted in the higher implementation of antimicrobial dressings in wound management. Wound care Specialists are preferring these antimicrobial dressings due to their number of advantages such as they are easy to use, easily available, possess a reduced risk of resistance as well as deliver a sustained release of antimicrobial agents. What Do You Mean By Antimicrobials? Antimicrobials are the agents that fight against microorganisms while in the umbrella term, it includes disinfectants, antiseptics, and antibiotics. Disinfectants are the chemical agents or biocides that are incorporated in the wound dressing to kill or inhibit microbes on dormant objects such as dressing trolleys and instruments. While on the other hand, antiseptics are the biocides that have the primary use of killing microorganisms spread within a wound or on intact skin. The antimicrobial activity that occurs in the disinfectants and antiseptics can vary. The recent developed antimicrobial technologies include non-cytotoxic formulations to ensure less exposure to healthy wound tissues

2. What Are Antimicrobial Dressings? Antimicrobial dressings refer to the type of wound dressing consisting of an antiseptic agent incorporated and excluding product/dressings that involve antibiotics. Currently, there are many dressing technologies and advanced formulations available including the dressing that uses substances of antimicrobials or antibiofilm such as silver, cadexomer iodine, medical-grade honey, and many more. Categories of Antimicrobial Dressings A broad range of antimicrobial dressing available in the market has been experiencing an increased use by wound care san diego for treating various wounds. The variety includes Alginate, Collagen, Foam, Gauze, Gelling Fiber, Hydrogel, Transparent dressings, and wound contact layers. The type of the dressing depends on the type of dressing material, incorporated antimicrobial agents, as well as mode of delivery and characteristics of wound. For example, the amount of exudates, or infection, etc. Therefore the wound care clinics should assess or examine the wound before and during each dressing change to ensure effective wound healing progress. They should thoroughly check the wound and the effectiveness of the current dressing within every four weeks to reach the consequences of whether the dressing should be continued or not. If there are signs of healing in the wounds, the treatment should be continued. Silver-impregnated dressings are one of the popular antimicrobial dressings available in the market. They kill bacteria with their broad-spectrum vancomycin-resistant enterococci and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. They do not have the incorporation of antibiotics as well as also deliver a moist environment to effective wound healing. Silver acts on the bacteria cell wall synthesis, and transcription. It also fights against fungi and yeats. The currently available examples of silver-containing dressing include Aquacel Ag, Contreet, Arglaes, Acticoat, and many more. approach including against Conclusion The type of dressing should be selected as per the severity of wounds and should include proper wound hygiene. When it comes to the wounds and peri wounds, it should be cleansed followed by debridement, refashioning of wound edges at every dressing change. The selection of a suitable and appropriate antimicrobial dressing has a crucial role in preventing and managing residual biofilm. All the products of antimicrobial available in the market have different physical properties such as the level of releasing antimicrobial etc. Therefore, wound care experts should choose specific products to ensure the overall treatment requirements of the wound.