You have successfully logged out.
Not registered yet?
Addressing the tenacious biofilm
Despite advances in dressing technology and best practice, wound care is in crisis: the number of hard-to-heal wounds is increasing and the implications for the healthcare system, including greater antibiotic usage, are challenging (Figure 1).1-13 To improve the management of hard-to-heal wounds, it is necessary to address the tenacious biofilm that is present in most of them.14
Biofilm management involves regular debridement followed by antibiofilm re-formation strategies, including the use of topical antimicrobial dressings.14 The JWC International Consensus Document: Defying hard-to-heal wounds with an early antibiofilm strategy: wound hygiene suggests there is a need to go further by implementing a new strategy, called wound hygiene, which involves two additional stages: cleansing the wound and periwound skin, and refashioning the wound edge. Wound hygiene is a structured method for overcoming the barriers to healing associated with biofilm.
Hygiene is, of course, a fundamental and long-accepted concept, implementation of hygiene strategies, such as hand hygiene and surgical asepsis, have radically improved population health.
Wound hygiene is a powerful toolkit, its use in combination with the TIMERS (tissue, inflammation, moisture, edge, regeneration/repair, social factors) framework will help establish biofilm management as the optimal wound-care strategy. It can be used on all wounds, including acute and postoperative.
The core principle of wound hygiene is to remove or minimise all unwanted materials, including biofilm, devitalised tissue and foreign debris, from the wound, address any residual biofilm, and prevent its re-formation. This will kickstart healing.
Like all forms of hygiene, the hallmark of wound hygiene is repetition: the wound must be cleansed, debrided and its edges refashioned at every assessment and dressing change. Like hygiene in general, it is not an optional activity.
With your personalized account, your online experience will be easier, more comfortable and safe.
