A Prospective Randomized Study to Compare the Effectiveness of Honey Dressing vs. Povidone Iodine Dressing in Chronic Wound Healing

Abstract

To compare the healing of chronic wounds with honey dressing vs. Povidone iodine dressing in adult subjects with chronic wounds of ≥6 weeks of duration, attending wound care clinic in Surgical Out Patient Department of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Surgical Out Patient Department of Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma center, New Delhi. Forty five subjects were randomized into two groups i.e., Honey & Povidone iodine dressing group. Dressing was done on alternate day basis for 6 weeks of followup period. Main outcome measure was complete healing at 6 weeks. Wound healing status was assessed at 2 weekly intervals till 6 weeks. Seven out of 22 subjects in honey treated group achieved complete healing as compared to none out of 20 subjects in Povidone iodine treated group. There was a significant decrease in the wound surface area, pain score & increase in comfort score in Honey dressing group in comparison to the Povidone Iodine group at 0.05 level of significance. Honey dressing is highly effective in achieving healing in chronic wounds as compared to Povidone iodine dressing.

Keywords: Chronic wound healing; Honey dressing; Occlusive dressing; Povidone iodine dressing; Randomized trial.

Figures

Fig. 1

CONSORT flow diagram

Fig. 2

(a) Transparent sterile polyurethane occlusive dressing for retaining honey in the wound cavity and (b) complete healing of wound after 6 weeks of honey dressing