Topical Steroid Use for Suppression of Hypergranulation in Burns: Trends Across the Atlantic

Hypergranulated wounds from thermal injury remain a complex and debilitating problem for burn patients. Currently, there is no standard therapy to prevent or treat hypergranulation following burn injury. Many centers use topical corticosteroids; however, their use seems to be geographically dependent and controversial. The primary aim of this study was to quantify the current use of topical corticosteroids for postburn hypergranulation in North America (NA) and Europe, while secondarily assessing for perceptions of safety and efficacy. We designed a survey that was distributed to the members of the European and American Burn Associations. Data were extracted and analyzed using SPSS software. A total of 165 respondents completed the survey (90 and 75 for the European and NA members, respectively). Seventy-one of the 90 (78.9%) European respondents reported they routinely use topical steroids for suppression of hypergranulation tissue in burns, versus 25 of the 75 (33.3%) NA respondents (P < .001). European respondents, compared to NA respondents, were significantly more likely to consider topical steroid use safe (100% vs. 74.4%, P < .001) and effective (98.6% vs. 66.7%, P < .001) for treatment of hypergranulated burn wounds. There was no significant difference in reported systemic effects seen after topical steroid use when comparing NA respondents and European respondents (6.5% vs. 6.9%, P > .10). The results of this study suggest that the use of steroids for hypergranulation tissue in burn care is more prevalent in Europe than NA, which may be due to discordant views on safety and efficacy despite minimal reported adverse effects.