Management Of Superficial Partial Thickness Burn With Collagen Sheet Dressing Compared With Paraffin Gauze And Silver Sulfadiazine.

Burn injury is a global problem that equally concerns under-developed and developing countries. An ideal dressing material has to maintain a moist environment, act as a bacterial barrier and as a medium for free exchange of gases, while providing a barrier against toxic contaminants. Sixty-eight consecutive patients with fresh acute superficial partial thickness burns ≤ 15% BSA, registered in two tertiary care teaching hospitals in North India between January 2015 to December 2019, were divided into two groups: a collagen dressing group (group A) and a paraffin gauze (PG) plus silver sulfadiazine (SSD) group (group B). Forty-four patients received collagen dressing and 24 patients received conventional paraffin gauze (PG) plus silver sulfadiazine (SSD) dressing. Patients were followed up for clinical outcome until burn wounds healed. We observed complete healing in 5-7 days for 26 cases (59%) in group A, in 8-12 days for 16 cases (66.66%) in group B. A total of 95.5% of group A patients required analgesia only for ≤ 2days, while 90.90% of group B patients required analgesia for ≥ 6 days. Ninety percent of group A patients required none or a single dressing change with shorter hospital stay. In group B, 22 cases required 3-5 dressing changes. Collagen dressing has proved to be highly advantageous for acute small areas of partial thickness burns (< 15% BSA). It confers better pain relief, and minimal or no dressing change with better rate of wound healing. Pediatric patients preferred collagen sheet dressing. Conventional dressings tend to adhere to the wound surface, and their need for frequent changes traumatises newly epithelialized surfaces and may delay healing.