Therapeutic effect of blue light in treatment of residual burn wounds

Objective To investigate the effect of blue light in treating the residual burn wounds. Methods Sixty-four massive burned patients with residual wounds (burn area of 30%-80% total body surface area and residual wound of 0.5%-3%) treated between April 2013 and October 2013 were allocated to control group (32 cases) and treatment group (32 cases) according to the random number table. In control group, the wounds were dressed with povidone-iodine gauze. And, except for this, patients in treatment group were treated with blue light therapy. Between-group comparison was made on infection control, bacterial clearance rate, wound healing, and healing time. Results On the fifth day after treatment, treatment group showed infection control in 19 cases, basic control in 9 cases and non-control in 4 cases, with the infection control rate of 88%; on the contrary, control group showed infection control in 8 cases, basic control in 14 cases and non-control in 10 cases, with the infection control rate of 69% (P<0. 05). On the tenth day after treatment, bacterial clearance rate between treatment and control groups was 81% and 63% respectively (P<0. 05). Rate of wound healing was 91% in treatment group including 20 cases cured, 9 significantly improved, 2 improved and 1 remained unchanged, but was 59% in control group with 5 cases cured, 14 significantly improved, 8 improved and 5 remained unchanged (P<0.05). Healing time was (12.5±4.5)days in treatment group versus (18.5±6.5)days in control group (P<0.05). Conclusion Blue light can effectively kill the bacterial on residual burn wound and accelerate wound closure and hence is a new method to treat residual burn wounds, worthy of clinical application. Key words: Phototherapy; Burns; Treatment outcome