04 May DIFFERENT SKIN TYPES: ONE SILVER DRESSING
Over the last few decades, the spread of multi-ethnic populations throughout Europe has forced health professionals to pay greater attention to the recognition of dermatological diseases that have clinical aspects different from those of Caucasian skin that we are normally used to.
There is a wide variety of skin “colours” (Phototypes I-V) in the various populations of the world, which depends on the amount and type of melanin they contain.
The phototypes range from I for populations with very light/reddish skin to V for those having black skin, including intermediate phototypes with slightly dark or olive coloured skin.
(e.g. Indians, Pakistanis, South Americans, Mongolian populations).
The anatomical, structural and physiological differences between light and dark skin make it difficult to recognize the typical signs of dermatological diseases.
An example is inflammation that occurs with erythema on light skin, which takes on a greyish colour on dark skin.
These characteristics led a team in three hospitals in northern Italy to evaluate strategies to recognize exit-site infections and the consequent assessment of the state of resolution using silver-based non-stick film dressings, without the use of antibiotics.
