Comparison of Aloe Vera and Silver Sulfadiazine in the Treatment of Deep Second-Degree Burn in Dogs

Burn injury is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Healing of burn wounds still remains a challenge to modern medicine. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of Aloe vera (AV) gel in the treatment of deep second-degree burn wounds and compare its results with those of silver sulfadiazine (SSD) in dogs. A standard deep second-degree burn wound was produced, five dogs, each dog has three groups, AV gel, SSD 1% cream and control (no topical therapy at all). The efficacy of treatment was assessed based on the healing percentage of the wound, time to complete wound healing and the degree of inflammation and exudation. Wound contraction was higher in the AV group than both SSD and the control group. It was significantly higher in the AV group than the control group on days 18, 21 and 24, 27 while significantly higher than the SSD group on days 21 and 24. The mean times for wound complete closure were 22.9 ± 2.56 and 25.7 ± 2.31 days for AV and SSD, respectively, being significantly shorter for AV. Clinically, inflammatory reaction and exudation were less in AV group than the SSD group and control group.Conclusion. Using topical AV will accelerate the burn wound healing process in comparison with both the control and SSD groups and can be used as an adjunctive or alternative agent in the future.