Topical Therapy of Traumatic Wounds in Disaster

Extract

Major trauma in disasters leading to open wounds is frequently followed by infection with a variety of microorganisms. Usually, antibiotics are administered systemically to prevent the onset of sepsis. In thermal burns, topical therapy with 1% silver sulfadiazine (AgSD) cream has proven effective and now supersedes systemic therapy. Experimentally standardized traumatic wounds in animals have been difficult to obtain. Standardized burn wounds in mice subsequently infected with pseudomonas facilitated demonstration of the efficacy of silver or zinc sulfadiazine (ZnSD) which has also shown an advantage in improved wound closure. (Fox CL, fr: Burns 1978;4:223). In a limited series of 18 patients with a variety of surgical trauma and infected wounds, topical silver sulfadiazine was utilized after prolonged systemic antibiotics had failed to eradicate the infection.