ABSTRACT
Since 1962, when Winter (1) reported that occluding a skin wound with a moisture-retentive dressing accelerated healing by up to 50%, there has been concern that the conditions that led to enhanced healing also would lead to an increased risk of infection (2,3). Moisture and warmth, the conditions that accelerate healing, are precisely those required by microorganisms for optimal proliferation. It was perceived that this would inevitably lead to infection through enhanced invasion of wound tissue. Winter stated that" ... in human clinical practice a moist wound surface may not be desirable because of the risk of infection" ( 4).
