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Review
. 2022 Oct 28;14(10):e30815.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.30815. eCollection 2022 Oct.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Comparing Burn Healing Outcomes Between Silver Sulfadiazine and Aloe vera

Nicole J Levin  1 , Young Erben  2 , Yupeng Li  3 , Tara J Brigham  4 , Alison J Bruce  5
Affiliations
Review

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Comparing Burn Healing Outcomes Between Silver Sulfadiazine and Aloe vera

Nicole J Levin et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Burn wounds remain a prevalent problem in the developed and developing world. A multitude of remedies has been tested. This study evaluated the healing time of second- and third-degree burn wounds between silver sulfadiazine (SSD) and Aloe vera (AV). In July 2020, a systematic review of MEDLINE (Ovid) and PubMed (National Library of Medicine) was performed to identify studies that reported healing of second- and third-degree burns using either SSD or AV. Articles meeting the inclusion criteria were screened and carefully analyzed. Our goal was to report the healing time for these burns using SSD and AV. A total of eight studies published between 1988 and 2018 reporting healing of second- and third-degree burns using SSD and AV were included in this review. Six were cohort studies and two were randomized controlled trials. The studies included both animal and human subjects. The meta-analysis demonstrated that the mean time to wound healing favored AV (RR: -1.34, 95% CI: -1.8 to 0.9, p < 0.001). It would seem that time to healing benefitted those burns in which AV was utilized. In conclusion, increased consideration and emphasis should be placed on using AV to aid the healing of second- and third-degree burns.

Keywords: aloe vera; burns; dermatology; plastic surgery; silver sulfadiazine; wound healing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for systematic review
Figure 2
Figure 2. Random effect meta-analysis comparing time to healing of second- and third-degree burns using Aloe vera and silver sulfadiazine
1. Comparison of healing effect of Aloe vera extract and silver sulfadiazine in burn injuries in experimental rat model [25]. 2. Effectiveness of Aloe vera gel compared with 1% silver sulphadiazine cream as burn wound dressing in second degree burns [14]. 3. Aloe versus silver sulfadiazine creams for second-degree burns: a randomized controlled study [6]. 4. Comparative evaluation of Aloe vera in the management of burn wounds in guinea pigs [17].
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