Summary of findings 5. Silver versus non‐antibacterial.
| Silver versus non‐antibacterial | ||||||
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Patient or population: people with burns Intervention: silver‐based interventions (dressings) Comparison: non‐antibacterial treatments (dressings and topical treatments) Setting: hospitals and burn clinics | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with non‐antibacterial dressing | Risk with silver dressing | |||||
| Wound healing (number of healing events): silver xenograft vs petroleum gauze | 500 per 1000 | 565 per 1000 (295 to 1000) | RR 1.13 (0.59 to 2.16) | 32 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ Low1 | There may be little or no difference between silver xenograft and petroleum gauze |
| Risk difference: 65 more burns healed per 1000 with silver xenograft compared with petroleum gauze (205 fewer to 580 more) | ||||||
| Wound healing (mean time to healing): silver nanoparticle vs Vaseline gauze | The mean time to wound healing was 15.87 days | The mean time to wound healing in the silver nanoparticle group was 3.49 days shorter (4.46 shorter to 2.52 shorter) compared with gauze | MD ‐3.49 (‐4.46 to ‐2.52) | 204 (2 RCTs) | ⊕⊕⊕⊝ Moderate2 | The mean time to wound healing is probably slightly shorter in the group treated with silver nanoparticle dressing compared with Vaseline gauze |
| Infection | No study reported evaluable data for this comparison | |||||
| Adverse events | No study reported evaluable data for this comparison | |||||
| *The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: Confidence interval; MD: mean difference; RR: Risk ratio | ||||||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High: it is very likely that the effect will be close to what was found in the research. Moderate: it is likely that the effect will be close to what was found in the research, but there is a possibility that it will be substantially different. Low: it is likely that the effect will be substantially different from what was found in the research, but the research provides an indication of what might be expected. Very low: the anticipated effect is very uncertain and the research does not provide a reliable indication of what might be expected. | ||||||
1Downgraded twice for imprecision as fragile confidence intervals cross the line of no effect. 2Downgraded once for imprecision due to low numbers of participants.