You can’t see biofilms can you?
McGuire, Sebag and Skolnik have recently released a paper (published by Wound Source, 2016) called “Using the Entropic Wound Cycle as the basis for making effective treatment choices.”
Numerous points of interest are raised by the authors but the comment that struck me was … “Visible biofilms can develop within 48hours (in chronic wounds) and reform just as quickly after debridement if not treated.”
The Smith&Nephew sponsored webinar on biofilms (August 17, 2016) clearly stated that biofilms are NOT visible, yet the Wound Source authors appear to offer a divergent point of view.
When clinicians are confronted with conflictng opinions such as this, is it any wonder that there is confusion and then lack of clarity in setting interventional objectives.
An important point to raise is that those of us providing patient care need to be guided by a large body of evidence rather than singular published pieces.
Guidance based on volume and strength of evidence is worth listening to.