Wound swab and wound biopsy yield similar culture results.

The question remains whether wound swabs yield similar culture results to the traditional gold standard, biopsies. Swabs are not invasive and easy to perform. However, they are believed to capture microorganisms from the surface rather than microorganisms that have invaded tissue.

Rapid enzyme analysis as a diagnostic tool for wound infection: Comparison between clinical judgment, microbiological analysis, and enzyme analysis.

In clinical practice, diagnosis of wound infection is based on the classical clinical signs of infection. When infection is suspected, wounds are often swabbed for microbiological culturing. These methods are not accurate (clinical judgment in chronic wounds) or provide results after several days (wound swab).