appropriate use of silver dressings in wounds - Systagenix

Table 3 |ContinuedWound type Title Reference Studies included ConclusionsMIXEDUninfectedwounds - burnsand otherwoundsTopical silver for preventingwound infectionStorm-VerslootMN, et al. CochraneDatabase SystematicReview 2010; 17(3):CD006478Burns - 13 trials of various silverpreparations including silvernitrate and SSDOther wounds - 6 RCTscomparing SSD/silvercontaining dressings with nonsilverdressingsBurns● 6 RCTs compared SSD with a silver dressing; onlyone found significantly fewer infections with a silvercontaining dressing and the rest found no difference● One RCT found a significantly lower rate of infectionwith silver coated gauze than with silver nitrategauzeOther wounds● Of 6 RCTs comparing SSD/silver-containing dressingswith non-silver dressings, most found nosignificant differences in infection rates; one foundsignificantly fewer infections with SSD/hydrocolloid● One RCT found a significant reduction in healingtime with silver Hydrofiber in diabetic foot ulcersThe authors concluded that there was insufficientevidence to establish whether silver dressings promotewound healing or prevent wound infectionContaminated orinfected acute orchronic woundsDIABETIC FOOT ULCERSDiabetic footulcersTopical silver for treatinginfected woundsSilver based wound dressingsand topical agents for treatingdiabetic foot ulcersVermeulen H,et al. CochraneDatabase SystematicReviews 2007; 1:CD005486Bergin S andWraight P. CochraneDatabase SystematicReviews 2006; 1:CD0050823 RCTs were identified with atotal of 847 patientsNo studies were identified thatmet inclusion criteriaSilver-containing foam dressings did not significantly increasecomplete ulcer healing compared with standard foamdressingsA greater reduction of ulcer size was observed with the silvercontainingfoamThere were no differences between groups in pain, patientsatisfaction, length of hospital stay, or costsThe authors concluded that the 3 trials did not providesufficient evidence to recommend silver-containing dressingsfor the treatment of infected or contaminated chronic woundsNo randomised or controlled trials existed at the time of theanalysis to allow evaluation of the clinical effectiveness ofsilver dressings in diabetic foot ulcersAPPROPRIATE USE OF SILVER DRESSINGS IN WOUNDS | 17