Local infection and biofilm management continue to be clinical challenges faced by clinicians caring for people with wounds. It is well-established that management and treatment of local infection and biofilm require different approaches. The innate immune response, which can successfully attack free-living bacteria, has been shown to have limited efficacy against biofilm communities, which provides challenges for resolving chronic infections caused by biofilm communities. While there is increasing recognition of the different nature of biofilm and local infection with results of an international survey identifying that although more than 50% of clinicians differentiate between local infection and biofilm in diagnosis – only 40% manage the wounds differently in practice. It is proposed that a comprehensive, succinct, expert-endorsed, evidence-based pathway can assist clinicians in the translation of evidence into daily practice. The Infection Management (IM) Pathway is one of the first tools that combines the diagnosis and treatment of local infection and biofilm, and offers a means to achieve a consistent approach.
