Photodynamic therapy of infection in burn patients

Abstract

ISSN Burns are one of the very ordinary and destructive forms of trauma. Patients with significant thermal injury require urgent specialized care for minimize morbidity and mortality. Significant thermal injuries induce a state of immunosuppression that predisposes burn patients to infectious complications. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) was discovered over 100 years ago by observing the killing of microorganisms when harmless dyes and visible light were combined in vitro. Since then it has primarily been developed as a treatment for cancer, ophthalmologic disorders and in dermatology. Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is considered one of the most important pathogens that represent life-threatening risk in nosocomial environments, mainly in patients with severe burns. Antimicrobial PDT is an effective and useful method to kill bacteria. The advantages of PDT include the rapid effect on bacteria and the lack of drug resistance to this system. The disadvantages of this method can be noted loses antimicrobial activity when the light source turns off and less than perfect selectivity for microbial cells over host tissue. Available data from different studies retrieve from PubMed, Scopus and Google scholar databases on antimicrobial affects of PDT. Based on existing research, PDT is one of the effective methods for the treatment of burn infections with fewer side effects and no sign of resistance. Copyright 2019 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.