Preventing Surgical Site Infection by Using Prophylactic Occlusive Ionic Silver-containing Dressing

Background: Ionic silver-containing dressing has been proven as a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent to reduce inflammation of wounds and promote healing. However, surgical incisions are usually dressed with conventional gauze dressing in colorectal surgery. Objective: To compare the effectiveness in preventing surgical site infection (SSI) by using conventional gauze dressing and occlusive ionic silver-containing dressing. Methods: This is a single-blind two-arm parallel randomized controlled trial on occlusive ionic silver-containing dressing conducted in Surgery Department of Princess Margaret Hospital. Two hundred patients who undergo emergency or elective abdominal colorectal surgery will be recruited and randomly assigned to have the surgical incisional wound dressed with conventional gauze dressing or occlusive ionic silver-containing dressing. Subjects will be assessed for SSI on day 3, 15 and 30 after operation in a clinical visit followed by phone interviews.