Abstract
Three groups of extensive burn patients of the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) have been compared: Group I: twenty patients, who were treated locally without silver sulfadiazinate (1968–1970);Group II: the twenty first patients topically treated with silver sulfadiazinate (1970–1972); Group III: twenty similarly treated patients, with silver sulfadiazinate, six years later (1976–1977). The groups are statistically comparable. All bacteriological samples were computerized; the chi-square method was used for statistical analysis of the data. The main conclusions are: (A) Silver sulfadiazinate treatment reduced Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus sepsis. No change in Coliform bacilli sepsis was observed. After six years, a rise in Klebsiella sepsis and Candida sepsis was noted. (B) A quantitative estimate of infections in each group was made by measuring the percentage of positive samples, taking into account the five above-mentioned strains. In the beginning, silver sulfadiazinate reduced quantitative sepsis, but this benefit decreased after six years; the same evolution was demonstrated for positive blood bacteriology; severe septicaemia showed a parallel pattern.