Comparison of Honey Dressing with Povidone-iodine dressing in Infected Surgical Wounds

Background: Honey is a type of natural dressing with many mechanical, biochemical and antimicrobial properties. Aim: To prove that Honey is better than conventional dressing with Povidone-Iodine ( PVI) in terms of pain control and wound healing. Methods: It is a randomized, single blind and multicentre experimental study, carried out in 2 hospitals i.e., Bhatti International Teaching Hospital situated in Kasur and Noor Hospital situated in Kot Radha Kishan from 04-05-18 to 10-01-19. 105 patients were included in the study while 2 patients left the follow up during study period. 2 parameters were studied i.e. Pain control and wound healing. Pain is assessed by visual analogue scale ( VAS) and wound healing was assessed in terms of resolution of erythema and resolution of discharge from the wound. Results: Mean age of patients in Honey dressing ( HD) group was 42 +/- 12 years while mean age of patients in PVI dressing ( PD) group was 40 +/- 13 years. 75% of patients from HD group were male while 25% were female. In PD group, 66% patients were male while 34% were female. Mean VAS in HD was 1.2 +/- 0.5 while it was 4.0 +/- 1.1 in PD group ( p value=0.002). 86.5% ( 45 out of 52) of patients had successful outcome ( resolution of erythema and discharge from wound and appearance of healthy granulation tissue) with the use of honey dressing while only 64.7% ( 33 out of 51) of patients had successful outcome with PVI dressing ( 2 sided sig.=0.01). Conclusion: Honey dressing is better than conventional Povidone-Iodine dressing in terms of cost factor, pain control and early wound healing.