• Bruno Duarte, Joana Cabete, Ana Formiga, and José Neves.
• Dermatology Department, Hospital de Santo António dos Capuchos - Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Int Wound J. 2017 Dec 1; 14 (6): 918-920.

AbstractDakin's solution (DS) is a time-honoured antiseptic that still remains part of the wound care armamentarium. In spite of its cytotoxicity, some question its use in the current era. We report the case of a 52-year-old diabetic woman who was admitted for sepsis because of a severely infected diabetic foot. Urgent surgical drainage and debridement left a 9 × 9-cm deep, complex, infected wound with both bone and tendon involvement. Treatment with local negative pressure was unsuccessful. DS was regularly instilled through a tube left in the wound dressing. A marked improvement was observed with this strategy as the wound bed was much cleaner and fully granulated after 6 weeks. No adverse effects were noted. This case debunks the myth that topical antiseptics necessarily impair wound healing. DS can still be considered an option for difficult-to-treat, complex and heavily infected wounds.© 2017 Medicalhelplines.com Inc and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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