Team V, Chandler PG, Weller CD, et al.
Wound repair and regeneration : official publication of the Wound Healing Society [and] the Eur.... Date of publication 2019 Apr 26;volume ():.
1. Wound Repair Regen. 2019 Apr 26. doi: 10.1111/wrr.12724. [Epub ahead of print]
Adjuvant therapies in venous leg ulcer management: A scoping review.
Team V(1), Chandler PG(1), Weller CD(1).
Author information:
(1)Monash Nursing and Midwifery, Level 3, 35 Rainforest Walk, Monash University,
Wellington Road, Clayton, 3800, Victoria, Australia.
Compression therapy is the current evidence-based approach to manage venous leg
ulcers (VLU); however, adherence is a major barrier to successful treatment.
Combination approaches may relieve the burden of treatment by shortening the time
to ulcer healing. This scoping review conducted by Australian researchers aimed
to establish the evidence of effectiveness of various adjuvant methods on wound
healing and recurrence. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), and Systematic
Reviews (SR) and Meta-Analyses (MA) on VLU management approaches published from
January 2015 to December 2018 were included in this review. The articles included
in the scoping review were grouped according to the management approaches,
including (1) pharmaceutical interventions, (2) surgical interventions, (3)
topical agents, (4) the use of devices, and (5) other, such as physiotherapy and
psychological interventions. Results of this scoping review indicate that there
is a limited high-quality evidence of effectiveness in most adjuvant therapies on
wound healing and recurrence. Given the low-quality evidence observed in this
scoping review for adjuvant treatments, the implication for practice is that
current management guidelines be followed. Further rigorous studies have the
potential to produce better quality evidence. Quality of evidence can be improved
by ensuring large sample sizes of a single etiology wounds, standardizing
reporting outcomes, and maintaining detailed and evidence-based protocols in
physiological or psychological interventions.
© 2019 by the Wound Healing Society.
DOI: 10.1111/wrr.12724
PMID: 31025794
