Abstract
The presence of bacteria in and on the superficial soft tissues to the extent that
healing progress is delayed or blocked has been described as ‘‘critical colonization’’ (16-18). Traditionally, colonization of a wound has referred to the presence
of proliferating bacteria on superficial tissues without injury to or reaction from
the host. ‘‘Critical colonization’’ is differentiated from ‘‘noncritical’’ colonization,
because it does involve injury to the host. Sibbald et al. (17) have defined critical
colonization as a transition point of increased bacterial burden, which occurs
when a wound is progressing from superficial colonization towards more invasive
local infection.