Table 5.

Principles for use of antibiotics/antimicrobials in wound treatment

Topical agents	• Restrict the use to critically colonized and infected wounds
	• Prefer agents which do not have a systemic formulation (e.g. fusidic acid, mupirocin)
	• Use for short periods and rotate to avoid resistances and sensitizations
	• Consider retapamulin as a second line treatment for resistant Gram positive bacteria
Systemic agents	• Administer in multiple infected lesions
	• Start early in malnourished and/or non compliant patients and in infants
	• Prescribe antibiotics according to the result of culture
	• Prefer narrow spectrum antibiotics