Objective: The study evaluated eradication of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from pressure ulcers comparing swabs containing polyhexanide with a cellulose dressing + polyhexanide. After receiving approval from the ethics committee and informed consent, patients from the centers were recruited.
Design: Prospective randomized study. Thirty patients (n = 15/n = 15), not responding to wound disinfection after a washout period of 2 weeks, were included in the intention-to-treat analysis.
Setting: This study was performed on hospital patients.
Patients: Patients had pressure ulcers containing MRSA.
Interventions: For the control group, cleansing was performed with polyhexanide swabs (20 minutes), after which a foam dressing was applied. The study group received a polyhexanide-containing cellulose dressing. For bacterial analysis, semiquantitative swab cultures (Robert Koch Institute recommendations) were taken on days 0, 7, and 14 and during 3 consecutive days.
Results: The groups were comparable at baseline. At day 7, in the control group, 6 of 15 (40%) MRSA eradication. For the study group, there were 13 of 15 (86.67%) who showed MRSA eradication. At day 14, in the control group, there were 10 of 15 (66.67%) who had MRSA eradication, compared with the study group, where 15 of 15 (100%; P < .05) had the MRSA eradicated.
Conclusions: Wound disinfection with polyhexanide was shown to be successful in both groups, showing superior results for the study group.