Photobiomodulation Reduces the Microbial Load of Acute Burn Wounds in the Burns Outpatient Department

Burn injuries are extremely common, and burn wounds can be associated with prolonged healing due to their inherent biofilm formation on the surface, further increasing the risk of complications such as infection and slow healing. This severely affects the patient's life and represents a socioeconomic burden for the patients and for the healthcare system. Photobiomodulation (PBM) has been introduced in wound management since the 1980s and has shown satisfactory outcomes, with no reported negative outcomes. The effects of PBM on the microbial load of burn wounds were assessed in the burn's outpatient dressing clinic.

During routine outpatient dressing changes, wounds were standardly cleansed and a baseline burn wound swab obtained, followed by 2 min of noncontact PBM over the wound bed and peri-wound margin. A repeat wound swab was taken immediately after irradiation, and the wound was redressed with the appropriate dressing for the clinical appearance of the wound. The colony-forming units were counted and compared pre- versus post-treatment bacterial load.

Ninety-six paired swabs from acute burn wounds were analyzed. After a single PBM session, the bacterial load decreased in 42 out of 96 wounds, and increased in nine wounds swabbed out of 96. No bacterial growth was present both before and after PBM in 45 out of 96 wounds. One PBM session on an acute burn wound led to an average of 64.4% decrease in the bacterial load on the burn wound surface. Overall, PBM reduces, or does not increase, the microbial load on 91% of the burn wounds.

PBM is a valuable adjunct in burn wound care by decreasing the microbial load, being noncontact, easy to implement, and conserving the same outpatient clinic settings and length of appointment.