Release of silver ions and the antimicrobial properties of the wound dressings

In order to determine the amount and speed of silver ion release from different silver-contained wound dressings,this paper analyzed the silver release properties of several silver-contained dressings.Three antimicrobial test methods were described and the antimicrobial performances of various silver products were summarized.Results showed that different types of wounds require different amounts of silver ions.Burn wounds are easy to be infected,so they require a large amount of silver from the dressing in order to maintain a higher silver concentration on the wound.With highly absorbent wound dressings,bacteria and exudates are absorbed into the dressing at the same time,thus only a small amount of silver released from the dressing would be effective in achieving antimicrobial effect.