A Comparative Study of the Wound Healing Properties of Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO) and Silver Sulphadiazine

Burns expose the deeper tissues of the skin or body to invasive microbes. Topical preparations for treating burn wounds, to be useful, should ideally have antibiotic power and promote healing. Silver compounds have been the mainstay of topical burn treatment for decades. However, most chemical substances retard wound healing. Several natural agents such as honey and moist exposed burn ointment (MEBO) are believed to protect wounds from infection and promote healing without causing any of the adverse effects of purified chemicals. In this study, we compared the wound healing properties of MEBO, a herbal preparation of Chinese origin, with silver sulphadiazine (SSD), a long-standing conventional burn dressing. Ten adult Sprague Dawley rats were divided into two groups. They were housed in separate cages and received partial-thickness burn wounds on their dorsal skin. They were then treated with MEBO and SSD. The wounds were inspected daily until day 8, when all the animals were sacrificed, perfused with normal saline, and had their wounds excised and prepared for histology. It was found that animals in both groups were well preserved. No clinical infections occurred. Wound healing was at an advanced stage by day 8 in all the animals. Clinical and histological examination showed that the two agents gave the animals comparable protection and healing possibilities. It is concluded that MEBO is a suitable and efficacious alternative to conventional silver-based topical therapies for treating partial-thickness burn wounds.