Honey Better for Burn Wound Healing Than Silver

A systematic review and meta-analysis of dressings used for wound healing: the efficiency of honey compared to silver on burns  

Published online: 18 Apr 2016
Contemporary Nurse

Background: Honey has the antibacterial effect of silver without the toxic effect of silver on the skin. Even so, silver is the dominant antibacterial dressing used in wound healing.

Objectives: To evaluate the healing effects of honey dressings compared to silver dressings for acute or chronic wounds.

Design: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

Method: The search, conducted in seven databases, resulted in six randomised controlled trial studies from South Asia focusing on antibacterial properties and healing times of honey and silver.

Result: Honey was more efficacious for wound healing than silver, as measured in the number of days needed for wounds to heal (pooled risk difference −20, 95% CI −0.29 to −0.11, p < .001). Honey turned out to have more antibacterial qualities than silver.

Conclusion: All the included studies based on burns showed the unequivocal result that honey had an even more positive effect than silver on wound healing.