Abstract
BACKGROUND: Wound healing is a dynamic process that normally follows a predictable cascade of events. A common cause of delayed wound healing or wound dehiscence is increased colonization with microbes, often leading to infection. Infection may impede the healing process by inducing an undesirable inflammatory response. Systemic antibiotics and topical antiseptics are mainstays of treatment, but their adverse side effects and the potential for emergence of resistant microbial strains have led to a search for alternative approaches for control of bioburden.
CASES: We describe two neonates and one 10-year-old girl who experienced delayed wound healing treated with a nonmedicated dressing that exploits bacterial cell-surface hydrophobic interactions via a dressing with a fatty acid (dialkylcarbamoylchloride [DACC]) coating. This dressing was used in a colonized, unstageable occipital pressure injuries, an infected stage 4 pressure injury over a vertebra, and a dehisced surgical sternal wound. Complete closure was achieved in all wounds within 2 to 4 weeks.
CONCLUSION: We employed a DACC-coated dressing that provides bacteriostatic activity without creating cytotoxicity or an inflammatory response.