The patients with infected
wounds of the extremities were treated with
kanamycin electrophoresis in combination with
chlorhexidine bigluconate, an
antiseptic. As compared to the patients treated with
kanamycin alone, the rate of the
wound size decrease in such patients was 2 times higher. The levels of microbial contamination in these patients were much lower. The contamination level with the aerobic flora was 4.8 times lower, including staphylococci, the level of contamination with which was 5.9 times lower. The contamination level with the
kanamycin-resistant bacteria was 22 times lower. The treatment with
kanamycin alone resulted in a 2.6-fold increase in the number of the
antibiotic-resistant variants in the microbial populations of the
wounds. In 48.2 per cent of the patients, this was accompanied by development of resistance to
kanamycin in the whole microbial population of the
wound. The development of the kanamycin resistance in the staphylococcal populations of 18.1 per cent of the patients was associated with changed sensitivity of the initial strains and in 81.9 per cent of the patients, with
superinfection by the resistant strains. No changes in the
kanamycin sensitivity of the initial gram-negative organisms during the treatment were observed. The use of
chlorhexidine bigluconate, as a biologically active substance in combination with
kanamycin potentiated the action of the
antibiotic, prevented development and accumulation of the
antibiotic-resistant variants in the microbial populations of the
wounds and development of the drug resistance in these populations.