Mafenide (
INN
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
; usually as mafenide
acetate
An acetate is a salt (chemistry), salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. Alkali metal, alkaline, Alkaline earth metal, earthy, Transition metal, metallic, nonmetallic or radical Radical (chemistry), base). "Acetate" als ...
, trade name Sulfamylon) is a
sulfonamide
In organic chemistry, the sulfonamide functional group (also spelled sulphonamide) is an organosulfur group with the structure . It consists of a sulfonyl group () connected to an amine group (). Relatively speaking this group is unreactive. ...
-type medication used as an antibiotic. It was approved by the FDA in 1948.
Uses
Mafenide is used to treat severe
burns Burns may refer to:
* Burn, an injury (plural)
People:
* Burns (surname), includes list of people and characters
Business:
* Burns London, a British guitar maker
Places:
;In the United States
* Burns, Colorado, unincorporated community in Eagle ...
.
It is used topically as an adjunctive therapy for second- and third-degree burns. It is
bacteriostatic
A bacteriostatic agent or bacteriostat, abbreviated Bstatic, is a biological or chemical agent that stops bacteria from reproducing, while not necessarily killing them otherwise. Depending on their application, bacteriostatic antibiotics, disinfect ...
against many gram-positive and gram-negative organisms, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Some sources state that mafenide is more appropriate for non-facial burns, while
chloramphenicol
Chloramphenicol is an antibiotic useful for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections. This includes use as an eye ointment to treat conjunctivitis. By mouth or by injection into a vein, it is used to treat meningitis, plague, cholera, a ...
/
prednisolone
Prednisolone is a steroid medication used to treat certain types of allergies, inflammatory conditions, autoimmune disorders, and cancers. Some of these conditions include adrenocortical insufficiency, high blood calcium, rheumatoid arthrit ...
or
bacitracin are more appropriate for facial burns.
Mechanism of action
Mafenide works by reducing the bacterial population present in the avascular tissues of burns and permits spontaneous healing of deep partial-thickness burns.
Adverse reactions
Adverse reactions can include superinfection, pain or burning upon application, rash, pruritus, tachypnea, or hyperventilation. Mafenide is metabolized to a
carbonic anhydrase inhibitor
Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors are a class of pharmaceuticals that suppress the activity of carbonic anhydrase. Their clinical use has been established as anti-glaucoma agents, diuretics, antiepileptics, in the management of mountain sickness, ...
, which could potentially result in metabolic acidosis.
Drug interactions
There are no significant interactions.
Contraindications
Mafenide is contraindicated in those with sulfonamide hypersensitivity or renal impairment.
Dosage
For use as adjunctive therapy for second- and third-degree burns to prevent infection, adults and children should apply topically to a thickness of approximately 1.6 mm to cleaned and debrided wound once or twice per day with a sterile gloved hand. The burned area should be covered with cream at all times.
References
External links
Mafenide information on RxList
{{SulfonamideAntiBiotics
Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors
Sulfonamide antibiotics