title: A comparison between occlusive and exposure dressing in the management of burn wound.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Two types of dressing, occlusive and exposure dressing, are commonly used in burn units. A dressing is said to be occlusive if a moist wound surface is maintained when the dressing is in place. This study was designed to compare the effectiveness of occlusive and exposure dressing in controlling burn infections.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred patients with second-degree burns admitted to Mottahari Hospital, Tehran, Iran, over a period of 12 months from May 2012 to May 2013 were studied. They were divided into two groups of 100 each, to receive either occlusive or exposure dressing. During the first week of treatment, wound specimens were obtained by sterile swab and cultured in selective media. Demographics (age and gender), burn areas, cause of burn, length of hospital stay (LOS), type of infections and time to total healing were compared between the two groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Occlusive dressing was more susceptible to microbial contamination and infections than exposure dressing. The mean duration of treatment based on epithelialization and healing in occlusive dressing was longer than for exposure dressing. The most common isolate was Pseudomonas spp., followed by Enterobacter, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter, and Klebsiella spp.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Exposure dressing was more suitable than occlusive dressing for treating partial-thickness at our center. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common organism encountered in burn infection.
authors.affiliation: Food Microbiology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Soltan Dallal
authors.affiliation: Health Information Management Department, School of Allied Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Safdari
authors.affiliation: Zoonosis Research Centre, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Infectious Diseases Department, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Emadi Koochak
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sharifi-Yazdi
authors.affiliation: Burn Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Akhoondinasab
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Pourmand
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Department, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hadayatpour
authors.affiliation: Zoonosis Research Centre, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Para Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: mksharifi@tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Sharifi-Yazdi
mesh_terms: D000151:Acinetobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D001458:Bandages; D002056:Burns / Q000382:microbiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004756:Enterobacteriaceae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009779:Occlusive Dressings; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa; D062326:Re-Epithelialization; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014945:Wound Healing; D014946:Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Bacterial prevalence; Burn wound infection; Exposure dressing; Occlusive dressing