Comparative study of Silver Sulfadiazine with other materials for healing and infection prevention in burns: A systematic review and meta-analysis

•Other materials (with or without silver) show better results than SSD on outcome wound healing.•SSD and new silver dressings are similar about infection prevention.•Dressings without silver show better rates of infection prevention than SSD.•Better quality clinical trials must be done to clarify the differences of SSD and new dressings. The aim of this systematic review with meta-analysis was to compare the effect of Silver Sulfadiazine (SSD) with other new dressings, with or without silver, on healing and infection prevention in burns. The electronic search was carried out in the electronic databases of Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Lilacs and BVS. The articles included were randomized clinical trials about burn treatment with SSD, which evaluated the healing and infection of burn wounds in humans. The exclusion criteria included articles, editorials and letters published in the form of abstracts, unpublished reports and case series, cross-sectional, observational experimental studies, and the use of sulfadiazine for other types of wounds. The search identified 873 references, and 24 studies were included in accordance with the eligibility criteria. The results showed a statistically favorable difference related to the time of healing for silver dressings (p