Treatment of Orthopaedic Infections with Electrically Generated Silver Ions
The famous clinical study by Dr. Robert O. Becker, M.D., and Joseph A. Spadaro, Ph.D., on healing bone non-unions and infected wounds with electrically generated silver ions. The study was published in 1978 in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.
The researchers used pure silver wire in some cases, and silver mesh in others, hooked up to a low-voltage electrical apparatus to deliver a steady stream of silver ions into the wound site. The researchers report in most cases that all infectious microorganisms were killed by the silver, and dramatic healing and even bone union took place. The researchers concluded, “Silver would appear to be the metal of choice for implanted electrodes used for bone stimulation. Its antibacterial properties, when it is the anode, would assist in controlling a quiescent pre-existing or operatively acquired infection. The results obtained with the silver-nylon electrode in open osteomyelitis would appear to warrant further investigation of its usage as an antibacterial dressing after wound debridement.”