Epidermal growth factor vs platelet‐rich plasma: Activity against chronic wound microbiota

Abstract The objective was to evaluate Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonisation of wounds treated with recombinant epidermal growth factor (EGF) and platelet‐rich plasma (PRP); to analyse the susceptibility profiles of S. aureus and P. aeruginosa isolates from wounds treated with EGF and PRP; and to describe the presence of infection in EGF‐treated and PRP‐treated wounds. Experimental study was performed using clinical specimens collected with swabs. Patients were treated with PRP and EGF in the outpatient clinic of a university hospital. Forty‐three isolates were obtained from 31 patients, 41.9% (13/31) of whom had been treated with EGF and 58.0% (18/31) with PRP. Ten of the 43 isolates were identified as S. aureus , 60.0% (6/10) of which were isolated from PRP‐treated wounds. Among the 33 P. aeruginosa isolates, 66.6% (22/33) were isolated from PRP‐treated wounds. Regarding antimicrobial susceptibility, only one strain isolated from an EGF‐treated wound was identified as methicillin‐resistant S. aureus (MRSA). Among the P. aeruginosa isolates, one obtained from a patient treated with EGF was multidrug‐resistant. Patients treated with EGF had no infections during the follow‐up period, and there was a significant difference between the 1st and 12th week in wound infection improvement in patients treated with PRP ( P = .0078).