Honey In Wound Management Research Articles

Honey based treatment strategies for infected wounds and burns: A systematic review of recent pre-clinical research

Abstract The clinical use of honey has gained significant importance in regenerative medicine owing to its constructive properties that abets the rapid healing of broad-spectrum of injuries. The salient characteristics of honey are attributable to its active ingredients which include sugars, enzymes and vitamins. Moreover, the evidence based results exert that honey acts in synergy with its immunologic modulators and physiologic mediators in multitude of signalling pathways and molecular targets offering beneficial vigor effects in wound healing. The aim of this present study is to systematically review the literature in PubMed database in order to identify the available pre-clinical results in support to rational use of honey in wound management. The results revealed that the active biomolecules of honey assisted in improved autolytic debridement and tissue granulation. This review highlights the physiological basis for the use of honey in wound healing, its current pre-clinical uses and its future recommendations.

Honey: An Effective Regenerative Medicine Product in Wound Management

Honey has successfully been used in the treatment of a broad spectrum of injuries including burns and non-healing wounds. It acts as an antibacterial and anti-biofilm agent with anti/pro-inflammatory properties. However, besides these traditional properties, recent evidence suggests that honey is also an immunomodulator in wound healing and contains several bee and plant-derived components that may speed up wound healing and tissue regeneration process. Identifying their exact mechanism of action allows better understanding of honey healing properties and promotes its wider translation into clinical practice. This review will discuss the physiological basis for the use of honey in wound management, its current clinical uses, as well as the potential role of honey bioactive compounds in dermal regenerative medicine and tissue re-modeling.

Manuka honey in wound management: greater than the sum of its parts?

Few involved in wound care will have escaped the considerable interest which has been generated by the resurgence in honey. Equally, there will be many clinicians around the globe who are wondering why all the fuss, as they will have been using honey all along. However, even with the advent of 'medical-grade' honey, combined with considerable research into the numerous potential modes of action, there remains a lingering scepticism regarding the value of honey as a justified, modern intervention in wound care. The purpose of this brief review is to summarise the ongoing chemical, biochemical and microbiological research and to correlate it with clinical outcomes. The purpose being to present the enquiring clinician with an evidence summary with which clinical choices may be made. While much of the early research was into generic honeys, one particular source, manuka, appears especially effective, and as such this has been the focus of recent studies.

Wound healing with Apitherapy: A Review of the Effects of Honey

Honey is a viscous substance derived from nectar and modified by honey-bees. It has wound-healing and antibiotic properties that shows promise as an inexpensive option for moist wound-dressings for a variety of wounds. Throughout history, there have been records of many civilizations such as those in ancient Egypt, India, and Greece that have utilized honey as medicine and current medical literature indicates that there may be benefits in treating burns or wounds with honey. This article will review and discuss the literature pertaining to the use of honey in wound management, to determine whether there is a place for honey in the treatment of this condition.

Medicinal honey as treatment for skin reactions associated with bone-anchored hearing implant surgery.

1. Majtan J, Majtan V. Is manuka honey the best type of honey for wound care? Journal of Hospital Infection. 2010 Mar; 74(3): 305-306 2. Robson V, Dodd S, Thomas S. Standardized antibacterial honey (Medihoney) with standard therapy in wound care: randomized clinical trial. J Adv Nurs. 2009 Mar; 65(3): 565-75 3. Thamboo A, Philpott C et al. Single-blind study of manuka honey in allergic fungal rhinosinusitis. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2011 Jun; 40(3):238-43 4. Biswal BM, Zakaria A & Ahmad NM. Topical application of honey in the management of radiation mucositis: a preliminary study. Support Care Cancer. 2003; 11:242-248 5. Thamboo A, Philpott C et al. Single-blind study of manuka honey in allergic fungal rhinosinusitis. J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2011 Jun; 40(3):238-43 6. Butler,G., Al Ghamdi, A., Salom, K., Al-Waili. Honey and microbial infections: a review supporting the use of honey for microbial control. J Med Food. 2011;14(10): 1079-1096 7. Robson V, Cooper RA & Ehsan ME. Honey in wound management following ENT surgery. Primary Intention. 2007 Nov; 15(4): 176-180 8. Flynn M, Breitholtz F, Halvarsson G, Rosengren A, Sadeghi A. (2008, Dec). Classifying skin reactions at the BAHA® implant site. Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank the members of the University of Arizona Department of Otolaryngology and the University of Arizona School of Medicine for their opinions and suggestions for this work. Author Contact: eafaucett@oto.arizona.edu Table 1. Skin Reaction Characteristics Figure 1. Medihoney ®

Use of Medihoney as a non-surgical therapy for chronic pressure ulcers in patients with spinal cord injury

Prospective, observational study of 20 spinal cord-injured (SCI) patients with chronic pressure ulcers (PUs) using Medihoney. To determine the effects of Medihoney by bacterial growth, wound size and stage of healing in PUs. We treated 20 SCI adult patients with chronic PUs using Medihoney. In all, 7 patients (35%) were female, and 13 (65%) were male. The average patient age was 48.7 years (30-79). In all, 6 patients (30%) were tetraplegic and 14 (70%) were paraplegic. Also, 5 patients (25%) had grade IV ulcers and 15 patients (75%) had grade III ulcers according to the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel. After 1 week of treatment with Medihoney, all swabs were void of bacterial growth. Overall 18 patients (90%) showed complete wound healing after a period of 4 weeks, and the resulting scars were soft and elastic. No negative effects were noted from the treatment using Medihoney. No blood sugar level derailment was documented. The medical-honey approach to wound care must be part of a comprehensive conservative surgical wound-care concept. Our study indicates the highly valuable efficacy of honey in wound management and infection control as measured by bacterial growth, wound size and healing stage.

Beneficial effects of honey dressings in wound management

Honey was commonly used to treat wounds until the introduction of antibiotics. However, increasing numbers of antibiotic-resistant bacteria mean that alternative treatment options, such as honey, are receiving renewed interest. This article provides an overview of the use of honey in wound management and reviews the evidence to support its effectiveness.

Wound-Product Selection and Innovations

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: The goal of our trial of this novel product was to determine the effects of Leptospermum honey on a wide variety of wound types. Specific data collected to determine the effectiveness of this product was wound measurements, report of pain, wound bed status and exudates levels. PURPOSE: A new calcium alginate dressing containing active Leptospermum honey* was FDA cleared in July of 2007. There is strong clinical evidence to support the use of honey in wound management. Seventeen randomized control trials have been completed on nearly 2000 patients and many other clinical trials and case reports have been presented in the literature. Because of this evidence and the continuous challenge to heal patients with chronic nonhealing wounds despite the plethora of wound products currently available on the market, it was decided to try this product in our wound program. METHODS: Four patients with chronic wounds were selected for the trial. The etiology of these wounds was either surgical, pressure, venous or traumatic in nature which well represented our treatment population. RESULTS: All patients showed marked improvement in wound bed status, management of exudate, decrease in wound size and atraumatic dressing changes with minimal pain. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The use of Leptospermum honey was associated with excellent wound healing outcomes as well as patient and clinician satisfaction. Our experience shows a wide variety of patients can benefit from the use of active Leptospermum honey calcium alginate dressings in the both the inpatient and outpatient settings.

Commentary on Bardy J, Slevin NJ, Mais KL & Molassiotis A (2008) A systematic review of honey uses and its potential value within oncology care. Journal of Clinical Nursing 17, 2604–2623

Systematic review (SR) is a powerful tool in the synthesis of knowledge on a particular subject and through meta-analysis provides summaries of evidence of effects of healthcare interventions. Guidelines for systematic reviews are available and well defined by Cochrane Library (http://www.cochrane. org), but it is important to emphasise that a clearly formulated question is posed and therefore the findings are only truly applicable to that situation. Systematic reviews are challenging as they depend on an exhaustive knowledge of the condition under scrutiny and valid, comparable data designs in the investigations (Holland 2001). It is argued that these prerequisites are not always met, so that some meta-analysis and systematic reviews are of inadequate quality (Holland 2001). The SR is based on inclusion of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) relevant to the question posed as this methodology aims to determine cause-and-effect relationships. However, it is worth noting that well-designed case studies, case series and cohort studies often precede RCTs and can provide valuable data for use in study design. They, therefore, are a valuable form of evidence, albeit; lower than the RCT or the SR. The authors of this systematic review have provided the reader with an extensive range of literature pertaining to the use of honey in healthcare. The review was very broad but failed to identify an explicit question. Meta-analysis was not conducted in any of the healthcare areas identified. The authors have raised three key areas that warrant further clarification and the addition of new information in relation to wound care. These include selection of honey for use in wound management, the identification of a further nine RCTs on the use of honey in wound management and finally the limitations inherent in using a quality score to assess reports of RCTs and non-RCTs. These will be commented on here.

Honey in wound care: effects, clinical application and patient benefit

The use of honey in wound management has enjoyed a resurgence. This is largely due to the growing clinical problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the combined difficulties for the practitioner in managing chronic wound types, such as burns, leg ulcers or surgical wounds, that may become infected, for example, with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas. The associated costs of treating such wounds are escalating as a result. While the use of honey as a wound dressing has been recognized, at least since Egyptian times circa 2000 BC, it is only more recently, due to the development and licensing of modern honey wound dressings, that such dressings have become more widely available and used in wound management. This article focuses on the use of honey in the treatment of infected wounds and burns. It will examine the effects of honey at the wound bed and its clinical applications, along with the current dressings available. Also discussed are the practical considerations, if, like any wound dressing, honey is to be used safely, appropriately and for the benefit of the patient.

Honey: a reservoir for microorganisms and an inhibitory agent for microbes.

Honey is an ancient remedy for the treatment of infected wounds, which has recently been 'rediscovered' by the medical profession. The use to which honey is put in medical care is increasing daily with many authors pointing out its importance and role in wound care. There have been reports that honey contains many microorganisms including bacteria and fungi. The aim of this paper is to highlight the various uses, organisms commonly found in honey, how the organisms arrived in the honey and their effects on wounds and wound care. Would the presence of these organisms not constitute a limiting factor to the use of honey in wound management? This is what this review aims to answer. A literature search was done on honey using pubmed, google, local books and journals. Relevant journals were extracted and discussed with emphasis on the antimicrobial properties as well as microbial content of honey and the implications of these. The production of honey as well as the storing process account for the presence of microorganisims. Most of these organisms are said to be in inactive forms as they can hardly survive in honey because of its several properties including hygroscopicity, hyperosmolarity, acidity, peroxide content, antibiotic activities etc. However there is a need for caution in the use of honey in wound management. We suggest that wounds to be treated with honey should be investigated i.e with a swab for the microorganisms present on the wound and their sensitivity to the honey before commencing honey treatment. This will help in carefully selecting wounds that might do well with honey treatment not withstanding other properties of honey that aid wound healing.

The benefits of honey in wound management

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in honey in wound management. There is a range of regulated wound care products that contain honey available on the Drug Tariff This article addresses key issues associated with the use of honey, outlining how it may be best used, in which wounds, and which clinical outcomes may be anticipated.

The benefits of honey in wound management

The benefits of honey in wound management

Honey – a modern wound management product Richard White Honey – a modern wound management productet al (Eds)Wounds UK160pp£24.990 9549193 0 00954919300

The use of honey in wound management has gained popularity over the past five years and its use is likely to increase as honey dressings are now on the drug tariff.

Case series of use of Manuka honey in leg ulceration.

Gethin G, Cowman S. Case series of use of Manuka honey in leg ulceration. Abstract The historical and current literature reports the successful use of honey to manage a diversity of wound aetiologies. However, only in the last 40 years is research on its mode of action and contribution to wound healing being investigated. The challenge of managing chronic non healing wounds generated interest in researching non standard therapies. The aims of the study were to gain insight into the practical use of Manuka honey in wound management. The objective was to test the feasibility of further rigorous research into the use of honey in the management of chronic wounds. Instrumental case series were used to examine the use of Manuka honey in eight cases of leg ulceration. To collect the necessary data, photographs, acetate tracings, data monitoring and patient comments and observations were used to add greater reliability and validity to the findings. The wounds were dressed weekly with Manuka honey. The results obtained showed three males and five females with ulceration of different aetiologies were studied. A mean initial wound size for all wounds of 5.62 cm(2) was obtained. At the end of four-week treatment period, the mean size was 2.25 cm(2). Odour was eliminated and pain reduced. The conclusions drawn were that the use of Manuka honey was associated with a positive wound-healing outcome in these eight cases. Arterial wounds showed minimal improvement only.

Topical Honey Application In Treating Large Ulcerated Wound As a Complication of Vascular Malformation In a 5-Month-Old Baby

Background: The ancient Egyptians and Greeks have used honey for wound care, and a broad spectrum of wounds are treated all over the world with natural unprocessed honeys from different sources. In lots of studies, honey as a conventional wound treatment may help improve wound healing, prevent invasive infections and eliminate colonization. With the increasing frequency of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, modern medicine give attention to natural products. The aim of this report is to gain insight into the practical use of topical honey in wound management. Methods: We report a case of five-month-old girl with sepsis and large ulcerated necrotizing wound at the external genitalia and perineum extending to gluteal area as complication of vein malformation after treated with intravenous injection of Bleomycin and Vincristine. Result: She was successfully treated with unprocessed local honey. Conclusion: Honey is shown to be a good option for treating infected chronic wound with dramatic result.