Silvadine (silver sulfadiazine) is very useful for certain kinds of
wounds, burns above all.  Yes, as Sherry suggests, it also can be useful
in certain hard-to-heal wounds such as pressure sores.

In general, though, the goal in treating wounds is to clean them
thoroughly when first seen.  It surprises some people that the staff
will insist on taking some apparently minor wounds to a full operating
room -- such as hand wounds (especially human, and to a lesser extent
animal bites), or stepped-on broken glass.

The reason for doing that is that only with some of the specialized
tools in the OR can the surgeon see and remove all debris.  This can
start with additional lighting and the need for general anesthesia so
the patient isn't moving around, but very often can need such things as
an operating microscope. People forget that most glass and plastics, for
example, are not visible on X-ray, and may need painstaking wound
exploration under magnification to get all the pieces. MRI and
ultrasound may help when available; ultrasound (and fluoroscopy when
appropriate) often are in the OR and used during surgery.

In general (burns tend to be an exception because large areas of skin
are gone), the continuing of a care is mostly mechanical, with dressing
changes and washing of selected wounds. Yes, Sulfadene is used in some
cases, as is Betadine.  More often, however, if antimicrobial therapy is
needed, it will get into the tissues far better whn given as an
injection or orally.  

Depending on where a wound is located, if it's visibly contaminated,
it's not considered overuse of antibiotics to start therapy, sometimes
short-term, to try to knock down the bacteria. Cephalosporins like
Keflex are probably most common, sometimes in combination with
gentamicin or other antibiotics appropriate to the case, and the
infectious organisms that occur locally. Medical practitioners in
different geographic areas should know the most common bacteria and
their sensitivities, which won't be the same everywhere. There's also a
strong clinical distinction between community-acquired infections
(especially pneumonia) and those that apparently start in the hospital.
Hospital-acquired infections tend to have been exposed to a wide range
of antibiotics and are hard to kill.

There. Medical post #1 for 2005!  Happy new year to all!