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Updated: May 7, 2026

Severe Burn Injury in a Swine Model for Clinical Dressing Assessment
Published on: November 6, 2018
Aquacel(®) Ag dressing versus Acticoat™ dressing in partial thickness burns: a prospective, randomized, controlled
Jozef Verbelen1, Henk Hoeksema1, Alexander Heyneman1
1Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Wound Healing and Tissue Engineering Unit, Gent University Hospital, Gent, Belgium.
Introduction:
Studies comparing contemporary silver dressings in burns are scarce.
Methods:
In a prospective, randomized, controlled study, counting 50 patients/research group, we compared two frequently used silver dressings, Acticoat™ and Aquacel(®) Ag, in the management of partial thickness burns with a predicted healing time between 7 and 21 days as assessed by laser Doppler imaging between 48 and 72h after burn. Variables investigated were related to baseline research group characteristics, wound healing, bacteriology, economics, nurse, and patient experience.
Results:
Both research groups were comparably composed taking into account gender, age and burn characteristics. Similar results were obtained as to healing time and bacterial control with both silver dressings. A statistically significant difference in favor of the Aquacel(®) Ag dressing was found for average ease of use (p<0.001), average ease of application (p=0.001), patient pain (p<0.001), patient comfort with the dressing (p=0.017), silver staining (p<0.001), and cost effectiveness (p<0.001).
Conclusion:
Both silver dressings resulted in comparable healing times and bacterial control but the Aquacel(®) Ag dressing significantly increased comfort for patients as well as nurses and was significantly more cost-effective than the Acticoat™ dressing for the given indication.
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