A Comparison of Methods for the Quantitation of Bacteria in Burn Wounds: I. Experimental Evaluation

A quantitative comparison of the gauze-capillarity method of Brentano2 and the moist-swab culture method of the authors has been made in a controlled experimental situation. No significant differences between the abilities of the two methods to recover bacteria or to give reproducible results have been found. A third method, using a 2 × 2-in. template and dry swab, did not receive a clinical trial; it was significantly inferior to the moist-swab and gauze-capillarity technics in the experimental trials.