People with chronic wounds such as foot ulcers and leg ulcers and acute wounds such as surgical wounds often find their wound becomes infected. Healing the wound can be delayed by the amount of bacteria on the wound surface. Wound care involves frequent dressing changes. Silver is an antimicrobial and dressings which contain silver have been developed. The authors of this Cochrane review wanted to find evidence on whether silver based dressings reduced infection and encouraged wound healing.
Three studies looking at people with chronic wounds were included in the review and found that silver-containing foam dressings did not result in faster wound healing after up to four weeks of follow-up. One study did find that the overall size of the ulcer reduced more quickly when dressed with a silver-containing foam.
There is no enough evidence to recommend the use of silver-containing dressings or topical agents for treating infected or contaminated chronic wounds.