Inhibition of wound contraction by topical antimicrobials

Spontaneous wound healing occurs partly by wound contraction, a process that requires intact functioning fibroblasts, and collagen production. Disruption of fibroblasts by the topical antimicrobials, silver sulfadiazine and mafenide acetate has been demonstrated in vitro. An acute rat wound model was used to show that wound contraction in vivo is significantly impeded by silver sulfadiazine and mafenide acetate.