Methods of infected wounds’ modeling: in vitro, ex vivo, in vivo

Infected wounds are a severe medical problem that requires a comprehensive approach to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Adequate and modern model systems are needed for a study of the pathophysiology of wound infections, as well as for the development and testing of new therapeutic strategies. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of current models aimed at recreating the healing processes of infected skin wounds. The search for sources was conducted in the PubMed database using the keywords «infected wound», «model», « in vivo », « in vitro », and « ex vivo », excluding the words «burn» and «diabetic». The search depth was 22 years: from 2003 to 2025. A comparative study of in vitro , ex vivo , and in vivo models has been conducted, including their methodological features, advantages, disadvantages, and translational effectiveness. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of each model in the context of reproducing the pathophysiological processes occurring in infected wounds. The result of the work is a comparative characteristic of the models, which makes it possible to assess their economic feasibility, deadlines, labor costs, complexity of implementation and reproducibility. To achieve more relevant and accurate results, the integration of data obtained in various model systems is promising.