A Comparison of Wound Healing Efficacy between a Herbal-coated Lipidocolloid Dressing and a Paraffin-based Dressing in Pediatric Burn Patients - A Randomized Controlled Study

Objective: Burn injuries are prevalent among pediatric patients and pose significant challenges in wound management. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a herbal-coated lipidocolloid dressing (SI-Herb) versus a paraffinbased dressing (Bactigras) in promoting wound healing in pediatric partial-thickness burns. Materials and Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at Nakhon Pathom Hospital, Thailand, enrolling patients aged 0 to 15 years with partial-thickness burns covering 20% or less of their total body surface area (TBSA) between November 2021 and July 2023. Patients were randomized into SI-Herb (Group S) or Bactigras (Group B) treatment arms. The primary outcome assessed was days to complete wound epithelialization, with secondary outcomes including pain, bleeding, and dressing removal difficulty scores. Results: Of the 28 recruited patients, 25 were included in the analysis (13 in Group S, 12 in Group B). There was no significant difference in complete wound epithelialization between the groups overall (9.2 ± 3.1 days in Group S vs. 11.3 ± 5.2 days in Group B, p = 0.242). However, subgroup analysis of patients with burns ≥10% TBSA showed a significantly shorter epithelialization time in Group S compared to Group B (11.8 ± 1.5 days vs. 15.8 ± 1.6 days, p = 0.007). Additionally, Group S exhibited lower pain, bleeding, and dressing removal difficulty scores compared to Group B (p = 0.042, 0.009, 0.003, respectively). Conclusion: The herbal-coated lipidocolloid dressing demonstrated superior efficacy in promoting faster wound epithelialization in pediatric patients with partial-thickness burns exceeding 10% TBSA compared to the paraffinbased dressing.