Despite widespread use of
wound dressings containing
silver, few studies have investigated patients' serum
silver levels. An earlier study of
Acticoat use in small
burns showed transient elevations of serum
silver. The aim of this study was to examine the serum
silver profile when
Acticoat is used in major
burns. A prospective study of 6 patients with
burns greater than 20% total body surface area (TBSA). All
burn wounds, including grafted and non-grafted areas and skin graft donor sites, were dressed with
Acticoat or
Acticoat Absorbent. Patients' serum
silver levels, biochemistry and haematology were examined before, during and after the application of the
silver dressings. The median total
wound size (including donor sites) was 46.1% TBSA. The median maximum serum
silver level recorded, 200.3 μg/L, reached at a median of 9.5 days following initial
silver dressing application. This decreased to a median of 164.8 μg/L at the end of the treatment period and to a median of 8.2 μg/L at the end of follow-up. One adverse event, partial skin graft loss was thought to be dressing related. In this small study, serum
silver levels were elevated but remained similar to that reported following the use of
silver sulfadiazine. This study confirmed our view that
Acticoat is safe to use on patients with
burns, even when they are extensive.