Management of partial thickness facial burns (comparison of topical antibiotics and bio-engineered skin substitutes)

This study compared the effect of standard topical antibiotic management versus a biological skin substitute wound closure for mid-partial thickness burns of the face. Adult patients with mid-dermal facial burns produced by flash flames or flame exposure were studied using a randomized prospective study design. Total daily burn care time, pain (0–10 scale) and healing time were monitored. Immediately after partial thickness debridement, the entire face burn, including ears, was closed with a bioengineered skin substitute coated with fibronectin (TransCyte) or treated by the open technique using bacitracin ointment applied 2–3 times daily. 21 patients were studied, with 10 patients in the skin substitute group. We found a significant decrease in wound care time 0.35±0.1 versus 1.9±0.5 h, decrease in pain of 2±1 versus 4±2 and re-epithelialization time 7±2 versus 13±4 days in the skin substitute group compared to topical antibiotics. We can conclude that a bioengineered skin substitute significantly improves the management and healing rate of partial thickness facial burns, compared to the standard open topical ointment technique.