Effectiveness of silver dressing in preventing surgical site infections in contaminated wounds/Efectividad de los apositos de plata en la prevencion de la infeccion del sitio operatorio en heridas contaminadas

• Published in: Iatreia (Medellín, Colombia) Vol. 27; no. 3; p. 247
• Main Authors: Patino, Yina Daniela Benitez, Quintero, Maria Fernanda Osorio, Cabrales, Rodolfo Adrian, Cobo, Rafael Bernal, Martinez, Jose William, Upequi, Marta Lia Castrillon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Universidad de Antioquia, Facultad de Medicina 01.07.2014
• Subjects: Analysis; Health aspects; Infection; Infection control; Prevention; Surgery; Wound care
• ISSN: 0121-0793

Introduction: Silver gauzes are designed to treat infected wounds, but there is controversial evidence about their effectiveness in preventing surgical site infections in contaminated wounds. Objective: To evaluate the effect of silver gauzes in patients undergoing surgery with contaminated wounds at a university-based tertiary referral center. Methods: This was a prospective, controlled trial comparing a silver gauze dressing with saline gauze dressings in patients undergoing abdominal surgeries with contaminated wounds. Patients were randomly assigned to receive either silver gauze (SG) dressing or saline gauze dressings (SD). The primary end point was surgical site infection occurring within 30 days of surgery. Results: 65 patients were enrolled in the review. The incidence of surgical site infection was 14% (9/65). No differences were observed among groups (15.2% vs. 12.5%, p = 0.75). Multivariate analysis revealed no relationship between the type of dressing and surgical site infection. Conclusion: Silver gauzes are safe and effective in preventing surgical site infections in surgeries with contaminated wounds. Further trials are required to find out if they have advantages over standard dressings. KEYWORDS Silver; Surgical Wound Infection Introduccion: existe controversia sobre la eficacia de los apositos impregnados de plata en la prevencion de la infeccion del sitio operatorio en heridas contaminadas. Objetivo: evaluar el efecto de los apositos con plata en pacientes posquirurgicos con heridas contaminadas en un hospital de III nivel. Metodos: estudio prospectivo, controlado, que comparo los apositos con plata con las gasas en solucion salina en pacientes posquirurgicos con heridas contaminadas. Las heridas recibieron uno de dos tipos de tratamiento topico: gasas en solucion salina (GS) o apositos con plata (GP). El efecto final para medir fue la aparicion de infeccion del sitio operatorio (ISO) en los 30 dias siguientes a la intervencion quirurgica. Resultados: se analizaron 65 pacientes. La incidencia de ISO fue del 14% (9/65) sin diferencias estadisticamente significativas entre ambos grupos (15.2% frente a 12,5%, p = 0,75). El analisis de regresion multivariado no mostro relacion entre el tipo de aposito y la aparicion de infeccion. Conclusion: los apositos impregnados de plata son seguros y efectivos para la disminucion de la ISO. Se requieren estudios adicionales para saber si su efecto es superior al de los apositos tradicionales. PALABRAS CLAVE Infeccion de Herida Operatoria: Plata