An experience with paediatric burn wounds treated with a plant-derived wound therapeutic.

OBJECTIVE To observe the efficacy of a plant-derived wound dressing (1 Primary Wound Dressing®), a mixture of hypericum and neem oil, in different types of paediatric burns. METHOD A retrospective review was conducted over the complete healing course of 9 paediatric patients with a mean age of 8.17±3.35 (1-11 years), presenting mixed, partial or full-thickness burns. The treatment applied by the wound care specialist consisted of daily cleansing of the wound with a saline solution and application of 1 Primary Wound Dressing on the whole wound surface. There was no application of a secondary dressing. The time to heal, wound size, ease of handling, pain and complications were recorded. Procedural and background pain were observed in six of the patients older than 5 years (mean age 9.6±2.39, range 8-11 years). Due to the small number of patients examined during the period studied, it was not possible to perform statistical analyses. RESULTS The mean wound size was 50.76±48.32cm2 (4.63-132.0cm2). A rapid induction of granulation tissue and re-epithelialisation was observed. Time to complete healing was 16.6±4.69 days (10-22 days). No complications related to wound infection was observed. The 6 patients older than five years reported a strong relief of pain, from an initial value of 7-8 out of 10 to 0 out of 10 within the first week of treatment. This remained at the 0 out of 10 level during the second and third weeks of treatment. CONCLUSION This retrospective, non-controlled examination suggests that 1 Primary Wound Dressing could be an effective therapy for the treatment of burn wounds, with benefits including pain reduction and simplicity of use. Further evaluations with a larger population are required to document the effectiveness of this plant-derived wound dressing in a controlled fashion. DECLARATION OF INTEREST There were no external sources of funding for this study. F. Carnevali is a researcher and co-inventor of 1 Primary Wound Dressing®.