Observation on the effect of liquid paraffin as adjuvant therapy in treating residual wounds of patients with severe burns

Objective To observe the effect of liquid paraffin as adjuvant therapy in treating residual wounds of patients with severe burns. Methods From January 2016 to October 2017, 58 patients with residual wounds in the later stage of severe burns were admitted to Beijing Jishuitan Hospital. Those patients met the inclusion criteria of this study and were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. All the patients received wound disinfection, petrolatum gauze dressing change and silver ion-bearing antimicrobial dressing every other day to treat the residual wound until wound healing. From January to November 2016, 29 patients who were treated with iodophor and normal saline to clean and disinfect the wound before dressing change were enrolled in normal saline group, including 22 males and 7 females, aged (38±12) years. From December 2016 to October 2017, 29 patients who were treated with iodophor and liquid paraffin to clean and disinfect the wound before dressing change were enrolled in liquid paraffin group, including 20 males and 9 females, aged (37±12) years. The effective rate of treatment, infection control rate, and bacterial positive ratio of wound on post first treatment day (PFTD) 7, 14, and 21 and the complete wound healing time of patients were compared between the two groups. Data were statistically analyzed with independent sample t test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, chi-square test, and Pearson chi-square test, continuity correction chi-square test, and Fisher′s exact probability test after Bonferroni correction. Results (1) On PFTD 7, 14, and 21, the effective rates of wound treatment in patients of liquid paraffin group were 34% (10/29), 59%(17/29), and 79%(23/29), respectively, which were significantly higher than 10% (3/29), 24% (7/29), and 38% (11/29) of normal saline group (χ²=5.857, 7.108, 10.235, P<0.05 or P<0.01). (2) The wound infection control rates in patients of liquid paraffin group on PFTD 7 and 14 were 79% (23/29) and 90% (26/29), respectively, which were significantly higher than 31% (9/29) and 52% (15/29) of normal saline group (χ²=13.663, 8.321, P<0.01). The wound infection control rate in patients of liquid paraffin group on PFTD 21 was 100% (29/29), which was significantly higher than 69% (20/29) of normal saline group (P<0.01). (3) The bacterial positive ratios in the wounds of liquid paraffin group were similar to those of normal saline group on PFTD 7 and 14 (χ²=2.097, 2.583, P>0.05). On PFTD 21, the wound bacterial positive ratio of liquid paraffin group was 8% (3/39), which was significantly lower than 49% (17/35) of normal saline group (χ²=13.625, P<0.01). (4) The complete wound healing time of patients in liquid paraffin group was 15.0 (11.0, 20.0) d, which was significantly shorter than 22.0 (15.0, 27.5) d of normal saline group (Z=2.256, P<0.05). Conclusions In the treatment of residual wounds of severe burn patients, liquid paraffin as adjuvant therapy can effectively improve the treatment effective rate and the infection control rate of wounds, decrease the bacterial positive ratio, and shorten the wound healing time.