How effective are commercialized products used in the treatment of superficial partial-thickness burn injuries? - Systematic Review with Meta-analysis

Burns are an important public health issue, related to 11 million cases annually around the world and up to 180 thousand direct or indirect deaths. Thus, it is vitally important to understand the effectiveness of the different products commercialized for the treatment of burn injuries. ObjectivesTo analyze the effectiveness of products used in the treatment of superficial-type partial-thickness burn injuries. MethodsThis is a systematic review, using the PICO strategy, with a search period between 2004 and 2020, consulting the COCHRANE Library, Lilacs, Medline, PubMed and Scielo databases. The inclusion criteria were studies that used commercialized products for the treatment of superficial-type partial-thickness burn injuries in humans. To assess the quality and risk of bias of the studies, the Oxford scale and criteria from the Cochrane Guidelines were used. Results19 eligible studies were selected, most of the products were presented as an alternative to the traditional treatment that involves the use of the silver sulfadiazine product. The methodological quality of the studies allowed performing a meta-analysis of only 2 studies, evaluating the healing outcome, the low number of studies included for statistical analysis suggests that it is not possible to conclude which product is more effective. ConclusionsThere is a limitation in the available studies that address the costs and outcomes of existing interventions for the treatment of burns. Future research should develop systematic, valid measures in order to obtain an analytically and statistically adequate result.