Silver Sulfadiazine With Hyaluronic Acid Versus Silver Sulfadiazine Alone in Partial-Thickness Burns

Overview

Partial-thickness burns are commonly treated with topical silver sulfadiazine; however, its use may delay epithelialization due to cytotoxic effects on regenerating cells. Hyaluronic acid has biological properties that may enhance wound healing when combined with silver sulfadiazine. This study aims to compare the time to re-epithelialization between silver sulfadiazine combined with hyaluronic acid and silver sulfadiazine alone in patients with bilateral partial-thickness burns using an intra-patient randomized controlled design.

This is a prospective, intra-patient randomized controlled clinical trial conducted at a tertiary care burn center. Patients of all ages presenting with bilateral, symmetrical partial-thickness thermal burns will be enrolled, provided the burn areas are clinically comparable and suitable for intra-patient randomized treatment. In each patient, one burn area will be randomly assigned to receive topical silver sulfadiazine combined with hyaluronic acid, while the contralateral burn area will receive silver sulfadiazine alone. Randomization will be performed at the wound level so that each participant serves as their own control, minimizing inter-individual variability. Both interventions will be applied using identical dressing techniques and schedules. The primary outcome measure is time to re-epithelialization, defined as the number of days from initiation of treatment to achievement of complete epithelial coverage of the wound surface. Participants will be monitored daily until epithelialization is complete. This study is designed to evaluate whether the addition of hyaluronic acid to standard silver sulfadiazine therapy accelerates wound healing in partial-thickness burns under routine clinical conditions.