A retrospective review of the use of a nanocrystalline silver dressing in the management of open chronic wounds in the community.

As part of an infection management protocol, antimicrobial dressings offer an appropriate, cost-effective choice for the management of localised bioburden in chronic wounds. The choice of antimicrobial can impact significantly not only on the treatment outcomes and cost but also on the safety and well-being of the patient. This retrospective study investigates these outcomes comparing health care records of 2572 patients with open chronic wounds, who were treated either with an Integrated Care Wound Bundle (ICB) including nanocrystalline silver (NCS) dressings (n = 330) or without NCS dressings and not on a ICB (n = 2242) in the community from March 2016 to March 2018.