Comparison of the Skin Graft and Modern Wound Covering in Terms of Antimicrobial Properties

Introduction. The skin graft is the “gold standard” of wound dressing, but if it is unavailable, a special type of wound dressing — wound covering (WC) — can serve as an alternative. Promising materials for WC are natural components. One of the main requirements for WC is protection from secondary contamination of the wound and the ability to suppress the growth of pathogenic microflora. Traditional methods for assessing the antimicrobial properties of drugs are not always applicable to them.

Aim of study. To develop a method for assessing WC by antimicrobial properties, and to use it to conduct a comparative analysis of the antimicrobial properties of a skin graft (SG) and two types of WC.

Material and methods. In the study, we used a split SG and two types of WC: histoequivalent bioplastic material (HBM) based on hyaluronic acid and atraumatic WC (AC) Voskopran®. Antimicrobial properties were assessed against a hospital-acquired mecitillin-resistant strain of S. aureus and a fluoroquinoloneresistant strain of P. aeruginosa. Two series of 8 experiments were conducted on blood agar (BA) plates with the dilution of the bacterial densities by a factor of 10, resulting in final concentrations of 102, 104,106, and 108 CFU/ml.

Results. The SG at a concentration of S. aureus of less than 106 CFU/ml is able to significantly slow down the growth of the microbial culture, and at concentrations of 104 CFU/ml and below, it completely suppresses and protects the BA surface from infection. AC, which does not include antiseptic agents, has virtually no inhibitory effect on the growth of pathogenic S. aureus and does not protect BA from the ingress of microorganisms. HBM occupies an intermediate position between the SG and AC. In relation to P.aeruginosa in all concentration, no suppression or growth retardation was observed in any of the WC samples.

Conclusion. The developed method of antimicrobial properties rating has proven its effectiveness. The skin graft is capable of significantly slowing the growth of gram-positive microbial culture at concentrations of 104 CFU/ml and below. If P. aeruginosa is detected, the use of any type of WC and skin grafting are ineffective.

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