Revisiting silver dressings
English Microbiologists Leahy-Gilmartin and Edwards-Jones recently wrote a paper which compared laboratory testing methods on silver dressings.
My summary of their findings are :
Silver dressings (generically) have a greater antimicrobial effect against Gram negative bacteria than against Gram positive bacteria – including MRSA.
Nanocrystalline silver is bacteriocidal whilst most silver salt & metallic silver products are bacteriostatic.
The antimicrobial action of the dressing is determined by the location of silver within the product, the activation of the silver (usually by wound exudate) and whether sufficient silver is present to kill or inhibit organisms.
Leahy-Gilmartin,A & Edwards-Jones,V Challenging silver: a comparison of in vitro testing methods. Wounds International 2018;9(2):35-42.