Honey compared with 1% silver sulfadiazine cream in the treatment of superficial and partial thickness burns

Objective To assess the efficacy of honey compared with 1% silver sulfadiazine cream as a burn dressing for the treatment of superficial and partial thickness burns covering less than 15% of the bodysurface. Patients and methods In a randomized comparative clinical trial, carried out at the Surgical Department, of Combined Military Hospital, Bahawalpur, from September, 2002 to August, 2003, 50 patients were selected for the study. They were randomly assigned to two groups. Each group contained 25 patients. Patients in group-I were treated with pure honey which was applied once daily after the wound was cleaned with normal saline. Patients in group-II were similarly dressed with a layer of 1% silver sulfadiazine cream once daily. The effectiveness of the two modalities of treatment was judged on the basis of time taken for the wounds toheal, to berelieved of pain and to get sterile. Results In group-I (treated with honey), 52% of the patients had all the burns healed after 2 weeks and 100% got cured after 4 weeks. In group II (treated with 1% silver sulfadiazine), 20% of the patients had their burns healed after 2 weeks, 60% after 4 weeks and 100% bythe end of 6 weeks of the treatment. As regards pain relief, all the patients of group-I were relieved of pain after 3 weeks of the treatment. On the contrary it took 4 weeks for all the patients of group-II to be free of pain. Lastly, it took 3 weeks and 5 weeks for positive swab culture from the wound to get sterile with honey and 1% silver sulfadiazine cream, respectively. Conclusion With all the three criteria used to compare the effectiveness of the two modes of burn wound treatment, honeywas found superior to silver sulfadiazine.