Advanced wound care therapies for nonhealing diabetic, venous, and arterial ulcers: a systematic review

Abstract

Background: Nonhealing ulcers affect patient quality of life and impose a substantial financial burden on the health care system.

Purpose: To systematically evaluate benefits and harms of advanced wound care therapies for nonhealing diabetic, venous, and arterial ulcers.

Data sources: MEDLINE (1995 to June 2013), the Cochrane Library, and reference lists.

Study selection: English-language randomized trials reporting ulcer healing or time to complete healing in adults with nonhealing ulcers treated with advanced therapies.

Data extraction: Study characteristics, outcomes, adverse events, study quality, and strength of evidence were extracted by trained researchers and confirmed by the principal investigator.

Data synthesis: For diabetic ulcers, 35 trials (9 therapies) met eligibility criteria. There was moderate-strength evidence for improved healing with a biological skin equivalent (relative risk [RR], 1.58 [95% CI, 1.20 to 2.08]) and negative pressure wound therapy (RR, 1.49 [CI, 1.11 to 2.01]) compared with standard care and low-strength evidence for platelet-derived growth factors and silver cream compared with standard care. For venous ulcers, 20 trials (9 therapies) met eligibility criteria. There was moderate-strength evidence for improved healing with keratinocyte therapy (RR, 1.57 [CI, 1.16 to 2.11]) compared with standard care and low-strength evidence for biological dressing and a biological skin equivalent compared with standard care. One small trial of arterial ulcers reported improved healing with a biological skin equivalent compared with standard care. Overall, strength of evidence was low for ulcer healing and low or insufficient for time to complete healing.

Limitations: Only studies of products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were reviewed. Studies were predominantly of fair or poor quality. Few trials compared 2 advanced therapies.

Conclusion: Compared with standard care, some advanced wound care therapies may improve the proportion of ulcers healed and reduce time to healing, although evidence is limited.

Primary funding source: Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Quality Enhancement Research Initiative.