Comparing How Burn Wounds and Scars Heal in Children Using Chitosan and Silver Dressings

To evaluate and compare the wound healing time, measured as the number of days required for complete healing of the study wound, between the treatment groups.

To evaluate and compare the wound healing rate, calculated as the ratio of the healed wound area to the initial wound area, at 7, 14, and 21 days of treatment

To assess and compare the percentage of patients achieving complete wound healing within 21 days of treatment

To evaluate and compare scar outcomes of treated burn wounds using a validated scar assessment tool Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after injury. POSAS measures subjective assessment on a 1-10 scale from normal skin to worst scar imaginable across 6 metrics (surface area, vascularity, pigmentation, thickness, pliability and relief). The lowest sum score, reflecting normal skin, is 6 and the highest score, reflecting the worst imaginable scar, is 60.

To assess the cost-effectiveness of the treatment (e.g.: number of dressing changes required, number of hospital visits, costs of additional therapies related to wound healing (e.g., pain relievers)), at 21 days of treatment.

Medical staff will complete a survey consisting of 4 items evaluating their experience with the selected therapy. The survey includes questions addressing the complexity of the wound care therapy-such as its application, removal, and time requirements-as well as overall satisfaction. Responses will be collected using a combination of Yes/No/Not sure options and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), where 0 indicates "Not at all" and 5 indicates "Very much."

Patients will complete a survey consisting of 4 to 7 items evaluating their experience with the burn wound or scar treatment procedure. The survey includes questions related to patient satisfaction, which are a combination of Yes/No/Not sure responses and a visual analogue scale (VAS), where 0 represents "Not at all" and 5 represents "Very much." Additionally, questions addressing the patient's response to treatment use face scale items scored from 0 to 10, assessing symptoms such as pain, heat, itching, and irritation. A score of 0 corresponds to "Not at all," while a score of 10 indicates "Very much," with higher scores reflecting greater intensity of the respective symptom.

To assess the proportion of patients who experience adverse events associated with the dressing, from the time of admission up to 21 days of treatment.

To evaluate the rate of infection in burn wounds, defined as the number of infected wounds divided by the total number of burn wounds, assessed at each study visit up to 1 month of treatment.