Dressing conformability and silver- containing wound dressings

Background: All wounds have unique and irregular topographies, including cavities where fluids and bacteria may collect and increase the risk of wound infection. Aims: To qualitatively and quantitatively investigate the relationship between the physical structure of antiseptic wound dressings and their ability to manage bioburden in models that simulate clinical conditions. Methods: In vitro models were utilised to enable both visualisation of the conformability of silver-containing dressings with a simulated wound tissue surface, and measure the corresponding antimicrobial effect that these dressings had on a shallow wound microbial model. Results: Tissue contact and antimicrobial activity was shown with a silvercontaining Hydrofiber® dressing (HF-Ag) over a 48-hour contact period. In contrast, the silver-containing foam dressings tested demonstrated areas of non-conformability which were associated with reduced antimicrobial activity. Conclusions: These in vitro studies confirm that both dressing conformability and silver availability to bacteria at the wound surface are critical to the optimum functioning of silver-containing dressings. Conflict of interest: The study was sponsored by ConvaTec. Abstract