This week marks the end of our short series looking at different aspects of biofilms and their impact on wound healing. Although biofilms, synergistic colonies of microbes, have been a recognized phenomenon for decades, we still have no definitive effective strategy to combat them.

The major difficulty in dealing with biofilms is that they are considerably more resistant to antimicrobial treatments than free living bacteria. Even individual microbes that break away from the biofilm seem to retain this enhanced resistance. This means that standard treatments with conventional antibiotics are largely ineffective against biofilms. Unfortunately, however, if a biofilm is not managed effectively, it can have a considerable detrimental effect on wound healing.

A combination of strategies needs to be applied in the management of biofilms. The wound must be thoroughly debrided, and the patient given systemic broad spectrum antibiotics. The use of different biocides or antiseptics is also pivotal, with ionic nano-silver proving effective in some circumstances. New approaches to managing biofilms include the development of quorum-sensing inhibitors, anti-adhesion agents, and species-specific  killing strategies. However, despite considerable research effort, these approaches are unlikely to be available soon.

We hope that you have enjoyed this short series on biofilms. To complete the series, we present a short quiz below to allow you to test your own knowledge. If you are interested in learning more about the interesting phenomenon of biofilms, you may wish to consider studying for a certification in wound care. For more details on how to achieve wound certification, and the career and patient benefits this may offer, please visit www.woundeducators.com.