The major roles for antimicrobial dressings in the management of wounds are to:

• Reduce bioburden in acute or chronic wounds that are infected or are being prevented from healing by microorganisms
• Act as an antimicrobial barrier for acute or chronic wounds at high risk of infection or re-infection

It is not appropriate to use anti-microbial dressings:

• In the absence of signs of localised (overt or covert), spreading or systemic infection
• Clean surgical wounds at low risk of infection e.g. donor sites, closed surgical wounds
• Chronic wounds healing as expected according to co-morbidities and age
• Small acute wounds at low risk of infection
• Patients who are sensitive to any of the dressing components
• Wounds being treated with enzymatic debridement
• During pregnancy or lactation
• When contra-indicated by the manufacturer, for example, some manufacturers recommend that their silver dressings are not used during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or on/near body sites undergoing radiotherapy