Silver Sulphadiazine and Fundermol in the Topical Treatment of Burn Wounds: an Experimental comparative Study in Rats

Background– Fundermol is a topical agent for partial-thickness burns. Silver sulphadiazine is a topical agent for treatment of burn wounds. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of silver sulphadiazine dressing versus fundermol for burn healing and consequently prevention of infection in rats. Methods– Eighty-four Albino NMRI rats were scalded with boiling water for 6 seconds, resulting in second degree burns involving 10% total body surface area (TBSA). The rats were randomly divided into groups A and B; each group was further divided into three subgroups (A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3) of 14 rats each. The burned skin of group A rats was swabbed with Pseudomonas aeruginosa culture 1 day after burn induction; group B rats were not exposed to the bacteria. As P. aeruginosa is the most common and important bacteria in our epidemiological setting, we chose P. aeruginosa for this study. Rats in subgroups A1 and B1 were treated with silver sulphadiazine, and those in subgroups A2I and B2I with fundermol. Subgroups A3 and B3 received no treatment. All the rats were observed for 30 days and then sacrificed by Ether. Infection/contamination was determined by the culture of burn wound; looking for microorganisms such as P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. During histologic examinations, healing was evaluated by the following factors: surface vessel density, numerical vessel density, and surface epithelial density.Results- Silver sulphadiazine decreased the incidence of burn-wound infection by up to 85% in contaminated rats during the 30-day study period, while fundermol were effective in 58%. There were statistically significant differences between mean surface vessel density of burn wound in groups A1 and A2 with control group (P < 0.01) on 15th day. Mean numerical vessel density in groups A1 and A2 was significantly higher than control group on 15th and 30th day (p < 0.01). There was statistically significant association between mean surface epithelial density of burn wounds in group A1 with groups A2 and control on 15th day post burns (p < 0.01).Conclusion– Treatment of partial-thickness burn wounds with fundermol was not superior to silver sulphadiazine. We measured healing process by histological examinations and culture of the burn wounds. It could be considered as a hypothesis, because fundermol as a new topical agent was clinically comparable to silver sulphadiazine in treatment of burn wounds