Present Role of Zinc Peroxide in Treatment of Surgical Infections

The antibiotics have so completely taken hold of our minds in the treatment of surgical infections that we are often forgetful of other methods of treatment that are available. I have frequently been asked whether, since the arrival of the sulfonamides and the antibiotics, there are any conditions for which medicinal zinc peroxide is superior to these other chemotherapeutic agents. Experience has demonstrated that there are certain infections that are more amenable to treatment with this agent than to treatment with the antibiotics and that, if medicinal zinc peroxide is properly used, it will bring about the control of the infection and healing of the wound more quickly than will any other form of treatment. There are two regions of the body where this drug is of particular value: on the outer surface of the skin and along the alimentary tract. It can be used for the interior of the