| Abstract | Burn injury is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Healing of burn wounds still remains a challenge to modern medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) on a second-degree burn wounds and compare it with that of silver sulfadiazine (SSD) 1% cream in dogs. A standard deep second-degree burn wound was produced, five dogs, each dog have three groups, DMSO, SSD and control (untreated). The efficacy of treatment was assessed based on the healing percentage of the wound, time to complete wound healing and the degree of inflammation. Wound contraction was higher in the DMSO group than both SSD and the control group. It was significantly higher in the DMSO group than the control group on days 21 and 24 (P < 0.05). The mean times for wound complete closure were 24.4 ± 2.23 and 25.7 ± 2.31 days for DMSO and SSD, respectively, being shorter for DMSO but not significantly (P> 0.05). Clinically, inflammatory reaction was less in DMSO group than the control group. Topical application of DMSO has significant positive effects on the healing of burn wounds in a dog model. |