FigureWith the start of 2012, we are excited to enter our 25th year of publication. For a quarter of a century now, our constituents—subscribers, readers, editorial board members, publishers, and industry sponsors—remain highly enthusiastic about the depth and span of the journal as we celebrate our first 25 years of providing wound intelligence. In this prelude to the actual silver anniversary issue, which is the February edition, I want to set the stage! The pages of our next issue contain both historical perspectives and thematically relevant advancements in wound care. The coordinated editorial content will pay tribute to our beginnings as Decubitus with a review of our tripartite focus in research, patient care, and education. A selected cohort of original editorial leaders will write on focused topics in dermatology and the evolution of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) with whom we share our silver anniversary. We will also be reviewing the past 25 years and future thoughts on topics such as deep tissue injury, wound care dressings, global perspectives on wound care, the evolution of wound care, healthcare reform, nutrition, reimbursement, and The Braden Scale for Predicting Pressure Sore Risk. The Way Forward In the last 25 years, we have witnessed significant and collective advances in wound care, including the use of combination medical devices with biological dual active ingredients and applications ranging in focus from wound bed preparation to the final stages of wound healing. We now have cavitational ultrasound-based devices, employ bioelectrical stimulation, and use advanced wound drainage systems; negative pressure therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and systemic and topical therapy are now standards of care. Near infrared or light emitting (monochromatic) diodes that stimulate nitric oxide production and serve as oxygen-free radical scavengers to limit the senescence of viable cells needed in the wound healing process have enormous potential. Pharmacologic therapeutic antimicrobial wound dressings and dermal wound healing platforms are here and will potentially change our practices now and well into the future. They include surgical biofilms, wound-healing peptide gels, protein kinase, nanobandages, bionanotechnology, nanocrystals, and the use of autologous platelet gel preparations. The use of living cell-based therapy, including Mesoblast stem cells and autologous platelet therapy, have appeared in our journal. Acceleration of intrinsic healing and novel approaches to wound healing are emerging. And, antimicrobial wound dressings and computerized wound imaging analysis and documentation systems have advanced and continue to do so. A Tribute to Silver and Wound Healing It seems fitting to mention the use of silver in wound healing as we celebrate the journal’s silver anniversary. Before the advent of penicillin, clinicians placed silver wafers on contaminated wounds during World War I to help prevent infection. The widespread use of silver, however, diminished following the development of modern antibiotics. Recently, a renewed interest in using silver as a broad-spectrum antimicrobial has emerged. Silver is also used in combination with other devices, compounds, and dressings to enhance the wound environment for healing. For example, today we see silver being used with alginate, a naturally occurring biopolymer derived from seaweed, in a range of silver alginate products designed to prevent infections as part of a wound care management plan. Novel silver-based dressings, some of which provide a sustained release of silver ions to the wound bed, have recently become available. New silver compounds and delivery systems have the potential to improve wound care outcomes. Yet more evidence is needed about the safety and efficacy of many of the recently developed topical silver products. Tune in next month for our special anniversary issue!FigureRichard “Sal” Salcido, MD
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