In vitro efficacy of various topical antimicrobial agents in different time periods from contamination to application against 6 multidrug-resistant bacterial strains isolated from burn patients

AimIn vitro efficacy evaluation of eleven topical antimicrobials against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria isolated from burn wounds of our patients.Material and methodsGrowth of six MDR bacterial strains: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2 strains), Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli in burn-wound models was evaluated 24-h after application of the tested agents. Four different wound models were created to investigate the role of time elapsed between inoculation of bacteria and application of the agents on their antimicrobial activity and efficacy.ResultsThe efficacy against all the 6 bacteria in freshly contaminated wounds was excellent in majority of the tested agents. The longer was the time interval between inoculation and application of the topical antimicrobial agents, the higher failure of the agents was observed.ConclusionsTopical antimicrobials play an important role in treatment of burn wounds, but they should be used according to their efficacy against bacterial strains present in patients’ wounds. In cases where topical agents have been applied after 24 h, when formation of mature biofilm in the wound could be expected, it would probably not be possible to kill all the bacteria using topical antimicrobial therapy only.