Assessment of care protocol using hyaluronic acid dressing in Second-Degree skin burns in children

Abstract

Background: In France, almost 40% of burn hospitalizations involve children between 0 and 15 years old. A care protocol with a dressing using hyaluronic acid (ialuset®, Laboratoires Genevrier, Antibes, France) was implemented by the Department of Pediatric Surgery of Besançon University Hospital for such burns in children. Methods: The study was a retrospective observational study including children with second-degree burns covering less than 20% of the body surface, who, being less than 15 years old, were treated within 24 h of the burning incident by Besançon University Hospital and received first-line treatment protocol using hyaluronic acid (HA) cream or gauze, between January 2016 and January 2019. The study endpoints were the proportion of epidermized burns after 3 weeks of treatment, time to healing, and tolerance to the tested product used. Results: In total, 92 patients were screened at Besançon University Hospital and 74 were eligible, 135 burns were analyzed, and 792 dressings were applied. The average age of patients was 3.8 years old. Overall, 130 burns (96.3%) epidermized within a median time of 14 days [2; 45]. Among patients whose treatment failed, two were grafted. No adverse effects due to the application of hyaluronic acid-based gauze or cream were reported. Conclusion: A care protocol using HA-based dressing is an effective and safe alternative in the treatment of second-degree burns of children.

Keywords

• Second-degree burn
• Child
• Hyaluronic acid
• Epidermalization
• Wound care