Getting that Infected Wound to Heal

Getting that infected wound to heal

People’s struggles to deal infected wounds are not new. What has changed through the millennia is our understanding of how and why infection occurs, methods available for treatment, and the emergence of microbial drug resistance. In the current era, where we perform surgical procedures frequently, yet are under siege by resistant bacteria, we have to revise our attitude and approach to treatment with antimicrobials in order to preserve the antimicrobials available for treatment of serious infections for treatment of future patients.

“Antimicrobial stewardship” is a recent term defined as “an activity that includes appropriate selection, dosing, route, and duration of antimicrobial therapy” in order that a positive clinical outcome can be achieved with a minimum of unintentional consequences. This is often interpreted to refer to development of bacterial resistance, but also applies to minimizing adverse effects on the patient and the environment. “As veterinarians we have an ethical obligation to protect both animal and human health and well-being through judicious use of antimicrobial drugs.”1 An AVMA task force is currently working on development of antimicrobial stewardship programs and recommendations for veterinarians (https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/ Pages/130301e.aspx). 
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