Authors' objectives:

The aim of this report is to assess the evidence for using heparin in the treatment of burn injury or the complications of burn injury in adults and children.

Authors' results and conclusions: Nineteen articles from 18 unique studies were abstracted and included in this report. In these articles, there were multiple uses of heparin to treat burns (e.g., wound healing, inhalation injury, sepsis, pain). However, the overall quality of the articles was weak. Examples of weakness included unclear or inappropriate treatment allocation, no blinding, no control of confounding, poorly defined burn characteristics (e.g., thickness), unclear duration of treatment, incomplete description of heparin treatment, and use of inadequately described or invalid outcome measures. Overall, the evidence from these weak articles was insufficient to determine whether the effectiveness of heparin to treat burn injury was different from the effectiveness of other treatments, or whether treatment effectiveness varied according to; (a) the method of applying heparin (b) burn etiology. Four studies mentioned contraindications to using heparin to treat burns. These contraindications were bleeding diathesis, bleeding history, active bleeding or associated trauma with potential bleeding, active intestinal ulcer, thrombocytopenia, liver disease, renal disorders, or allergy to heparin.

Authors' recommendations: There is no strong evidence in the 19 abstracted articles to suggest that heparin should be used in the treatment of burn injury on account of its non-anticoagulant properties. However, since the lack of evidence is largely a function of the poor quality of the articles, further research is needed to investigate the potential uses of heparin in the treatment of burn injury.

Authors' methods: Systematic review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.ahrq.gov/downloads/pub/evidence/pdf/heparin/heparin.pdf

Year Published: 2006

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: United States

Organisation Name: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Contact Address: Center for Outcomes and Evidence Technology Assessment Program, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Tel: +1 301 427 1610; Fax: +1 301 427 1639;

Contact Name: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Contact Email: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Copyright: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)