Li S, Renick P, Senkowsky J, Nair A, Tang L, et al.
Advances in wound care. Date of publication 2021 Jun 1;volume 10(6):317-327.
1. Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2021 Jun;10(6):317-327. doi:
10.1089/wound.2019.1103. Epub 2020 Jul 7.
Diagnostics for Wound Infections.
Li S(1), Renick P(1), Senkowsky J(2), Nair A(3), Tang L(1).
Author information:
(1)Department of Bioengineering, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington,
Texas, USA.
(2)Texas Health Physician's Group, Arlington, Texas, USA.
(3)Progenitec, Inc., Arlington, Texas, USA.
Significance: Infections can significantly delay the healing process in chronic
wounds, placing an enormous economic burden on health care resources.
Identification of infection biomarkers and imaging modalities to observe and
quantify them has seen progress over the years. Recent Advances: Traditionally,
clinicians determine the presence of infection through visual observation of
wounds and confirm their diagnosis through wound culture. Many laboratory
markers, including C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, presepsin, and bacterial
protease activity, have been quantified to assist diagnosis of infection.
Moreover, imaging modalities like plain radiography, computed tomography,
magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound imaging, spatial frequency domain imaging,
thermography, autofluorescence imaging, and biosensors have emerged for real-time
wound infection diagnosis and showed their unique advantages in deeper wound
infection diagnosis. Critical Issues: While traditional diagnostic approaches
provide valuable information, they are time-consuming and depend on clinicians'
experiences. There is a need for noninvasive wound infection diagnostics that are
highly specific, rapid, and accurate, and do not require extensive training.
Future Directions: While innovative diagnostics utilizing various imaging
instrumentation are being developed, new biomarkers have been investigated as
potential indicators for wound infection. Products may be developed to either
qualitatively or quantitatively measure these biomarkers. This review summarizes
and compares all available diagnostics for wound infection, including those
currently used in clinics and still under development. This review could serve as
a valuable resource for clinicians treating wound infections as well as patients
and wound care providers who would like to be informed of the recent
developments.
DOI: 10.1089/wound.2019.1103
PMCID: PMC8082727 [Available on 2022-06-01]
PMID: 32496977
