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The following is a summary of “Evaluating the therapeutic efficacy and safety of alginate-based dressings in burn wound and donor site wound management associated with burn surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of contemporary randomized controlled trials,” published in the May 2025 issue of BMC Surgery by Lou et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the clinical outcomes of alginate-based dressings in burn care.  

They followed PRISMA guidelines and systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, and Web of Science for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing alginate dressings to other treatments in burn wounds and donor sites. Inclusion criteria targeted prospective trials reporting outcomes like healing time, pain scores, dressing change frequency, and adverse events (AEs). Data extraction and quality assessment were executed using standardized methods. Meta-analyses were conducted with R version 4.4.2 and Stata 15.0, applying the GRADE approach to assess evidence certainty. Results were reported as relative risk (RR), mean difference (MD), and standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% CI.  

The results showed that 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. Alginate dressings significantly reduced healing time compared to controls, with a MD of -1.09 days (95% CI, -1.67 to -0.31; P< 0.001; I² = 94.6%). Pain scores also improved with alginate dressings, showing a SMD of -1.37 (95% CI, -2.53 to -0.21; P= 0.000; I² = 90.9%). No significant difference was found in dressing change frequency (SMD 2.18; 95% CI, -4.29 to -0.07; P= 0.000; I²  = 94.0%), AEs had a RR of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.50 to 1.30; P= 0.021; I²  = 51.1%), indicating comparable safety between groups.  

Investigators concluded that alginate dressings significantly improved healing time and pain management in burn care, though their impact on dressing changes and safety was comparable to controls, with further standardized the research needed. 

Source: bmcsurg.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12893-025-02956-z