Treatment of partial thickness burns with Zn-hyaluronan: lessons of a clinical pilot study

A clinical investigation to determine the effectiveness of Zn-hyaluronan gel for the treatment of partial thickness burns was carried out. 60 patients were enrolled in the study with an average of 3% TBSA burn. Exudation lasted 3 days, no infectious complications were observed. By day 14 the wounds of 52 patients have healed, average complete healing time was 10,5 days. An overall 93,3% healing rate was achieved within the planned observation period. Reduction of spontaneous and movementrelated pain was reduced to less than half of the initial values by day 5,5 and 6,3 respectively. Development of a thin, elastic, well tolerable and protective membrane-like layer was noted. This kept the wounds moist while clean during wound-healing, and was spontaneously shed as epithelisation proceeded. Zn-hyaluronan gel is a novel topical wound care product that has proven to be suitable for the treatment of partial thickness burns.