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Medical uses of silver

Medical uses of silver
Intervention
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Colloidal silver
Plata Coloidal Super Tyndall Effect.jpeg
A bottle of colloidal silver
Alternative therapy
NCCIH Classification Whole medical systems
School Homeopathy
Risks Argyria, decreased drug absorption, increased antimicrobial resistance
Benefits Placebo
Legality Not to be sold for consumption or for disinfection in Sweden. Not to treat or prevent cancer (UK, Sweden, etc.)

The medical uses of silver include the use of silver in wound dressings, creams, and as an antibiotic coating on medical devices. While wound dressings containing silver sulfadiazine or silver nanomaterials may be used on external infections, there is little evidence to support such use. There is tentative evidence that silver coatings on endotracheal breathing tubes may reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia.

Silver generally has low toxicity, and minimal risk is expected when silver is used in approved medical applications.Alternative medicine products such as colloidal silver are not recognized as safe or effective by the FDA.

A 2012 systematic review reported that topical silver showed significantly worse healing time compared to controls and showed no evidence of effectiveness in preventing wound infection. A 2010 Cochrane systematic review concluded: "There is insufficient evidence to establish whether silver-containing dressings or topical agents promote wound healing or prevent wound infection".

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a number of topical preparations of silver sulfadiazine for treatment of second- and third-degree burns.

A 2012 systematic review found that silver-containing dressings were no better than non-silver-containing dressings in treating burns. A 2012 Cochrane review found that silver-containing hydrocolloid dressings were no better than standard alginate dressings in treating diabetic foot ulcers. A 2010 Cochrane review found insufficient evidence to determine if dressings containing silver increase or decrease infection or affect healing rates. Another 2010 review found some evidence that silver-impregnated dressings improve the short-term healing of wounds and ulcers. The lead author of this paper is a speaker for one of the manufacturers of one of the silver dressings under study. A 2009 systematic review found that silver dressings improve both wound healing and quality of life when managing chronic non-healing wounds. Another 2009 review concluded that the evidence for silver-containing foam in chronic infected wounds is not clear, but found that silver-containing foam resulted in a greater reduction in wound size and more effective control of leakage and odor than non-silver dressings. A Cochrane review from 2008 found that, despite some potentially positive findings, most of the trials had methodological shortcomings and thus are of little use. The review also raised concerns about delays in time to wound healing and an increased number of dressing applications when silver sulfadiazine (SSD) is used for the full duration of the treatment. Another 2008 systematic review concluded that the evidence shows an overall positive effect of silver-releasing dressings in the management of infected chronic wounds, but expressed concern that the quality of the underlying trials was limited and potentially biased.


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