Abstract
PURPOSE: To conduct a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of fish skin xenografts in burn treatment, comparing reepithelialization time, pain reduction, and the amount of analgesics used. METHODS: This review was designed and conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines and registered in PROSPERO under registration number CRD42023412250. The databases MEDLINE (via PubMed), Cochrane Library, Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO)/Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature (LILACS), and EMBASE were used. The literature search identified 768 articles. Through title and abstract screening, 736 were excluded, along with 16 duplicates. Sixteen articles were fully analyzed, of which six met the inclusion criteria for this review. RESULTS: The systematic review found that patients treated with fish skin xenografts had shorter reepithelialization times and reduced pain compared to conventional treatments. The meta-analysis showed reduction in reepithelialization time for the intervention groups using fish skin grafts by 1.26 day (95% confidence interval [95%CI] -2.38 to -0.15; p < 0.00001) and a reduction in pain levels with score decreases of 3.84 (95%CI -6.42 to -1.26; p = 0.0009). The objective of assessing the number of analgesics used could not be evaluated quantitatively. CONCLUSION: The use of fish skin xenografts in burn patients is effective in reducing reepithelialization time and decreasing pain levels during treatment.