title: The role of silver sulphadiazine in the conservative treatment of partial thickness burn wounds: A systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  For more than 40 years, silver sulphadiazine 1% (SSD) is considered as standard therapy for the conservative treatment of burn wounds. However, in the last 10 years, substantial disadvantages of SSD have been reported in the literature and probably as a result of this, several new dressings for burn wounds have been developed and put on the market. The objective of this systematic review is to evaluate the available evidence on SSD in the conservative treatment of burns, specifically in comparison with the newer burn dressings that are increasingly being used nowadays.
  
  
  METHODS
  A search filter was composed to select randomized controlled trials (RCTs) from the MEDLINE database. Only RCTs studying the effect of conservative treatment on burns were selected. At least one of the two comparative groups was treated with SSD. Each included article was analysed and relevant data (baseline parameters, interventions, outcomes and methodological parameters) were registered using Microsoft Office Excel 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Many dressings showed superior healing properties compared to SSD, but no dressing was able to show a clear benefit over SSD regarding infection. The number of dressing changes, pain and patient's satisfaction are more favourable in the newer dressings, especially with solid and biological dressings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this systematic review clearly demonstrate that a faster wound healing is obtained with the newly developed burn dressings. Additionally, these new dressings tend to be more comfortable for the patients and easier to use for care givers. The minor differences in antibacterial activity between SSD and the new products did not seem to have any influence on the rate of wound healing. Since rapid wound closure is essential to obtain an optimal functional and aesthetic outcome, it can be concluded from the results of this systemic review that the standard use of SSD in the conservative treatment of burn wounds can no longer be supported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. Electronic address: Alexander.Heyneman@uzgent.be.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Heyneman
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hoeksema
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vandekerckhove
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pirayesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Monstrey
mesh_terms: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001458:Bandages; D001684:Biological Dressings; D002056:Burns / Q000628:therapy*; D000072700:Conservative Treatment; D006801:Humans; D012837:Silver Sulfadiazine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D000891:Anti-Infective Agents, Local; D012837:Silver Sulfadiazine
keywords: Burns; Conservative treatment; Review; Silver sulphadiazine