Topical Antibiotics for Infected Wounds: A Review of the Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines [Internet].

Given the dearth of evidence that clearly indicates the benefits or detriments of using topical antibiotics to treat infected wounds, several differing opinions on their use have surfaced over the years, many of them noting the limitations of the current literature. For instance, some authors suggest using topical antibiotics in addition to systemic therapy, despite the literature not demonstrating a clinical advantage, whereas other sources caution against the use of topical antibiotics for treatment of infected, ischemic wounds altogether, given the scarcity of supporting evidence. Overall, topical antibiotics are suggested for use on infected wounds only; in instances where a wound's "bioburden is interfering with healing" and when there is an "increased risk of serious outcomes". Given that many of the research papers frequently cited in this area have been published in the 1980s, the purpose of this review is to examine the recently published evidence on the clinical effectiveness of topical antibiotics for treatment of infected wounds.

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