We were interested to read the article by Karri
1
describing the survey of randomised clinical trials in plastic surgery as we feel
this is a research area in which more could and should be done. Of relevance to this
review, although not published in the journals covered by the above paper, we have
conducted a randomised trial comparing conventional wound dressing against an open
dressing involving a herbal medicine-based preparation in 115 patients admitted to
hospital for second degree burns.
2
,
3
Interestingly, we were able to show very similar wound healing characteristics and
pain control with the two strategies despite prior claims of much greater effectiveness
of the new approach. In relative terms, this trial was not difficult to design or
to conduct, as the options were dressings for the wounds rather than surgical procedures,
which contrasts rather markedly with other aspects of the work of a plastic surgery
department (much untested in randomised controlled trials, RCTs).To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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References
- Randomised clinical trials in plastic surgery: Survey of output and quality of reporting.J Plast Reconstr Aesth Surg. 2006; 59: 787-796
- Evaluating the role of alternative therapy in burn wound management: randomized trial comparing moist exposed burn ointment with conventional methods in the management of patients with second-degree burns.MedGenMed. 2001; 3: 3
- Pain control in a randomized controlled trial comparing Moist Exposed Burn Ointment (MEBO) and conventional methods in patients with partial thickness burns.J Burn Care Rehabil. 2003; 24: 289-296
- Prerandomization of clinical trials. A more ethical way for performing cleft palate research.Plast Reconstr Surg. 1998; 102: 1724-1728
- The ethics of randomization trials in the context of cleft palate research.Plast Reconstr Surg. 2000; 105: 1566-1568
- New treatment and research strategies for the improvement of care of cleft lip and palate patients in the new millennium.Ann Acad Med Singapore. 1999; 28: 760-767
Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 16, 2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
