Systematic review on Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO) versus conventional methods for management of parital thickness burn wounds

Background: Maintenance of a moist wound environment facilitates the wound-healing process particularly in burn patients. Conventional therapy of burn injuries include application of 1% Silver Sulfadiazine or Aquacel Ag® sheets. Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO) is an alternative burn ointment which contains beta-sitosterol and berberine that promotes anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects. This study aims to review clinical trials comparing the use of MEBO versus conventional methods for burn wound management.

Methods: Relevant studies where searched through PubMed, Embase, Herdin, Clinicalkey, Clinicaltrial.gov, PIMEDICUS and Google Search Engine. Studies retrieved were reviewed by the authors focusing on the mean healing time as the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included were pain assessment, wound infection and post-burn deformities.

Results: A total of 5 studies were included in the review.  Four studies showed faster healing time among patients threated with MEBO comapred to conventional treament. However, one study showed shorter healing time among burn injuries treated with Aquacel Ag® compared to MEBO. One study comparing pain assessment showed treatment with MEBO having significantly decreased demand for pain relievers. Two studies showed no significant difference in wound infection, while one study showed increased infection rate among patients treated with MEBO compared to conventional treatment. The number of post-burn deformities was higher among patients treated with conventional therapy compared to those treated with MEBO.

Conclusion: Healing time, wound infection and patient comfort are superior among patients treated with MEBO compared to Silver Sulfadiazine regardless of burn location. Demand for analgesia is lesser among patients treated with MEBO compared to conventional care.