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Antibiotic Sponges Don't Benefit Heart Surgery Patients: Study
Posted 18 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Aug. 17 – A surgically implanted antibiotic-infused sponge doesn't lower the rate of sternal wound infections in patients who've had heart surgery, a new U.S. study has found. The sternum (breastbone) is cut open during heart surgery. Previous research has suggested that infection risk can be reduced if a sponge containing the antibiotic gentamicin is inserted when surgeons are closing the incision. The gentamicin-collagen sponge is approved in 54 countries, and more than 2 million of the sponges have been used in more than 1 million people outside the United States who underwent a wide range of procedures. (The sponge isn't approved in the United States.) One study found that the sponge reduced surgical site infection by 50 percent in cardiac patients. However, this new study by Duke University Medical Center researchers found that the sponge doesn't reduce the risk of ... Read more
Related support groups: Cardiothoracic Surgery, Wound Sepsis
Scientists Engineering Advanced Wound Dressings
Posted 10 Jul 2010 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, July 9 – A revolutionary medical dressing that can detect and treat infection in wounds is being developed by an international team of scientists. When the dressing detects infection-related bacteria, it will release antibiotics from tiny embedded capsules, the researchers explained. The dressing will also change color in order to alert health-care providers that there is infection in the wound. "Your skin is normally home to billions of 'friendly' bacteria, which it needs to stay healthy," project leader Dr. Toby Jenkins, of the University of Bath in England, said in a university news release. "The dressing is only triggered by disease-causing bacteria, which produce toxins that break open capsules containing the antibiotics and dye. This means that antibiotics are only released when needed, which reduces the risk of the evolution of new antibiotic-resistant superbugs such as ... Read more
Related support groups: Wound Sepsis, Wound Cleansing, Wound Debridement