Table 4.

Effect of supplements on wound healing after burns

References	Number of subjects (n)	Patient population characteristics	Intervention; additional intake of nutrient/day	Period of supplementation (days)	Study design	Parameters of wound healing	Results
Zhou et al.42	40	BSA 50–80%, 20–40% with third degree burns Age: 42±1 BMI: 21.4±0.3	Verum  Enteral nutrition (Ensure, Abbott), enriched with glutamine (Ajinomoto), 0.35 g/kg BW Placebo  Enteral nutrition (Ensure, Abbott) without glutamine	12	Randomized, double blind, controlled	Participants with healed wounds (d30) Wound infections (d30)	V>P V<P
Peng et al.43	48	BSA 30–75% Age: 38±11 BMI: n.d.	Verum  Glutamine, 0.5 g/kg BW (Chongqing Yao You pharmaceutical), oral or enteral application Placebo  Glycine, 0.5 g/kg BW	14	Randomized, double blind, placebo controlled	Healing rate	V>P
Berger et al.45	21	BSA>20%a Age: 42±3 BMI: n.d.	Verum  0.9% saline solution, i.v., enriched with  Zinc: 21.5±5.6 mg  Selenium: 90±24 μg  Copper: 2.7±0.7 mg Placebo  0.9% saline solution not enriched with zinc, selenium, and copper	14–21	Randomized, placebo controlled	Ratio of surface grafted to total body surface requiring surgery	V<P
Barbosa et al.46	32	Children>10% BSA, with segments of second-degree injuryb Age: 5±1 BMI: n.d.	Verum  Redoxon® (Roche Laboratories)  Intakec  Vit C: 900 mg  Vit E: 400 mg TE  Zinc: 7 mg Placebo  n.d.	7	Randomized, double blind, placebo controlled	Time to wound healing	V<P
Pattanshetti et al.44	30	BSA 20–60%d Age: 31±2 BMI: n.d.	Verum  Isonitrogenous mixture enriched with glutamine (Glutammune®; Claris Lifesciences), 0.5 g/kg BW Control  Isonitrogenous mixture without glutamine	Until complete wound healing or split thickness of grafting	Randomized, controlled	Time for wound healing	V<C

Data on age (years) and on BMI (kg/m²) are means±SEM if not indicated otherwise. Means were calculated as weighted means from the data of individual groups if not provided by the authors. Missing SEMs were calculated by SDs or SEMs of individual groups.

^aExclusion criteria: foreseen imminent death, chronic cardiac failure, chronic liver disease, severe renal failure, and obesity.

^bExclusion criteria:>50% BSA, polytrauma, brain trauma, tracheal intubation, mechanical ventilation, refractory shock, intolerance to oral/enteral nutrition, diabetes mellitus, cancer, chemo-/radiotherapy, organ failure, and chronic infection.

^cAverage values, recommendation, and intake were age dependent.

^dExclusion criteria: pre-existing severe cardiac, hepatic, renal, pulmonary diseases, diabetes mellitus, cancer, and electrical burns.

BSA, body surface area, burned.