Seeking effective interventions to treat complex wounds: an overview of systematic reviews

BMC Medicine

Sharon E Straus²  Wing Hui¹  Laure Perrier¹  Charlotte Wilson¹  Elise Cogo¹  Alana Harrington¹  Paul A Khan¹  Afshin Vafaei¹  Jesmin Antony¹  Andrea C Tricco³ 

[1] Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital, 209 Victoria Street, East Building, Toronto M5B 1W8, Ontario, Canada;Department of Geriatric Medicine, University of Toronto, 27 Kings College Circle, Toronto M5S 1A1, Ontario, Canada;Epidemiology Division, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto M5T 3M7, Ontario, Canada

关键词: Wounds;    Ulcer;    Treatment;    Systematic review;    Effectiveness;    Complex wound;   

Others  :  1174834
DOI  :  10.1186/s12916-015-0288-5

 received in 2014-09-13, accepted in 2015-02-03,  发布年份 2015

【 摘 要 】

Background

Numerous, often multi-faceted regimens are available for treating complex wounds, yet the evidence of these interventions is recondite across the literature. We aimed to identify effective interventions to treat complex wounds through an overview of systematic reviews.

Methods

MEDLINE (OVID interface, 1946 until October 26, 2012), EMBASE (OVID interface, 1947 until October 26, 2012), and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (Issue 10 of 12, 2012) were searched on October 26, 2012. Systematic reviews that examined adults receiving care for their complex wounds were included. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, abstracted data, and assessed study quality using the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR) tool.

Results

Overall, 99 systematic reviews were included after screening 6,200 titles and abstracts and 422 full-texts; 54 were systematic reviews with a meta-analysis (including data on over 54,000 patients) and 45 were systematic reviews without a meta-analysis. Overall, 44% of included reviews were rated as being of high quality (AMSTAR score ≥8). Based on data from systematic reviews including a meta-analysis with an AMSTAR score ≥8, promising interventions for complex wounds were identified. These included bandages or stockings (multi-layer, high compression) and wound cleansing for venous leg ulcers; four-layer bandages for mixed arterial/venous leg ulcers; biologics, ultrasound, and hydrogel dressings for diabetic leg/foot ulcers; hydrocolloid dressings, electrotherapy, air-fluidized beds, and alternate foam mattresses for pressure ulcers; and silver dressings and ultrasound for unspecified mixed complex wounds. For surgical wound infections, topical negative pressure and vacuum-assisted closure were promising interventions, but this was based on evidence from moderate to low quality systematic reviews.

Conclusions

Numerous interventions can be utilized for patients with varying types of complex wounds, yet few treatments were consistently effective across all outcomes throughout the literature. Clinicians and patients can use our results to tailor effective treatment according to type of complex wound. Network meta-analysis will be of benefit to decision-makers, as it will permit multiple treatment comparisons and ranking of the effectiveness of all interventions.

Please see related article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0326-3 webcite

【 授权许可】

   
2015 Tricco et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

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