Abstract The treatment of critically colonised or locally infected wounds with local antimicrobial agents is a standard of care. The destruction of especially gram-negative bacteria potentially increases the endotoxin level in the wound. This in vitro study aims to answer the question of whether and to what extent endotoxin release caused by the destruction of gram-negative bacteria is influenced by different wound dressing. Silver ion releasing dressings were compared to wound dressings with hydrophobic effect coated with dialkyl carbamoyl chloride (DACC). In addition, the bactericidal efficacy was measured. The log 10 reduction factors (RF) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa were between 0 and 0.9 for the hydrophobic dressings and 8.7 for the silver releasing dressing. The bacterial endotoxin content of the agar located under the dressing after contamination with P. aeruginosa was >300 3000 30 0.3 P. aeruginosa was >30,000 30,000 3000 3