title: A prospective analysis of silver sulfadiazine with and without cerium nitrate as a topical agent in the treatment of severely burned children.
abstract: Previous studies have indicated that combining cerium nitrate with silver sulfadiazine (Silvadene, Marion Labs) yields a superior topical agent for the treatment of burns. Cerium nitrate in silver sulfadiazine was tested in a controlled study with silver sulfadiazine alone. The study population consisted of two groups of children suffering burns greater than 30% of the body surface. The patients ranged in size from 1 to 21 years. The study period was for the first 10 weeks of hospitalization. Quantitative surface cultures were used to monitor burn wound flora. No superiority for the silver sulfadiazine-cerium nitrate combination was demonstrated. In fact, cultures indicate a significantly greater percentage of Gram-negative pathogens in patients treated with the cerium mixture. Cerium nitrate could possibly prove of greatest benefit if used as a reserve therapy for colonizing organisms which do not routinely respond to silver sulfadiazine.
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000209:etiology; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002563:Cerium / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D006088:Gram-Negative Aerobic Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000209:etiology; D013411:Sulfadiazine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014946:Wound Infection / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D013411:Sulfadiazine; D002563:Cerium