Effect of platelet-rich plasma in treating patients with burn wounds: A meta-analysis

Abstract

A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of burn wounds and to provide a scientific basis for clinical drug therapy. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases to identify randomised controlled trials (RCTs) on PRP in treating burn wounds, with the control group being treated with conventional treatments and the intervention group being treated with PRP alone or combined with PRP on the basis of the control group. The search duration was each database's inception to September 2023. The literature was screened, data were extracted and quality was assessed by two independent researchers. Data analysis was performed using the Review Manager 5.4 software. Eighteen RCTs comprising 1463 patients were included in the analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that the application of PRP significantly improved the wound healing rate (standardised mean difference [SMD]: 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54–1.67, p < 0.001), shortened wound healing time (SMD: −1.69, 95% CIs: −2.21 to −1.17, p < 0.001) and reduced the incidence of adverse events (7.03% vs. 18.93%, odds ratio [OR]: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.20–0.53, p < 0.001), and also significantly reduced patients' pain (SMD: −1.86, 95% CI: −2.47 to −1.25, p < 0.001) of burn patients when compared with the control group. This study showed that PRP is effective in repairing burn wounds, promoting wound healing, reducing the incidence of adverse events and reducing patient pain, making it worthy of clinical promotion and application.