From: Seeking effective interventions to treat complex wounds: an overview of systematic reviews
Characteristic | Number of systematic reviews (n = 99) | Percentage of systematic reviews |
---|---|---|
Year | Â | Â |
 1997–1999 | 6 | 6.1 |
 2000–2002 | 9 | 9.1 |
 2003–2005 | 15 | 15.2 |
 2006–2008 | 21 | 21.2 |
 2009–2011 | 36 | 36.4 |
 2012 | 12 | 12.1 |
Country of conduct | Â | Â |
Europe (38 of these are from the United Kingdom) | 65 | 65.7 |
 North America | 19 | 19.2 |
 Australasia (Australia, New Zealand) | 7 | 7.1 |
 Asia (Malaysia, China, Taiwan, India) | 6 | 6.1 |
South America | 2 | 2.0 |
Number of studies included | Â | Â |
 0–1 | 3 | 3.0 |
 2–10 | 53 | 53.5 |
 11–20 | 16 | 16.2 |
 21–30 | 10 | 10.1 |
 31–40 | 6 | 6.1 |
 41–100 | 8 | 8.1 |
 >100 | 3 | 3.0 |
Study designs included * | Â | Â |
 Randomized clinical trials | 93 | 70.5 |
 Observational studies | ||
 Non-randomized clinical trials | 20 | 15.2 |
 Controlled before-after studies, interrupted | 17 | 12.9 |
 Time series | 2 | 1.5 |
Patient population | Â | Â |
 Not specifically reported | 65 | 65.7 |
 Diabetes | 21 | 21.2 |
 Chronic venous disease | 4 | 4.0 |
 Complex lower limb wounds | 4 | 4.0 |
 Inpatients/institutionalized | 3 | 3.0 |
 Ambulatory patients | 1 | 1.0 |
 Elderly | 1 | 1.0 |
Type of wound * | Â | Â |
 Venous leg ulcers | 36 | 31.3 |
 Diabetic foot/leg ulcers | 26 | 22.6 |
 Pressure ulcers | 20 | 17.4 |
 Mixed arterial/venous leg ulcers | 16 | 13.9 |
 Mixed complex wound unspecified | 10 | 8.7 |
 Infected surgical wounds | 7 | 7.0 |
Interventions examined * | Â | Â |
 Adjuvant | 33 | 20.3 |
 Dressings | 26 | 16.0 |
 Biologics | 16 | 9.8 |
 Other topical | 14 | 8.6 |
 Other oral | 11 | 6.8 |
 Stockings | 10 | 6.1 |
 Support surfaces | 10 | 6.1 |
 Wound cleansing | 10 | 6.1 |
 Skin replacement | 9 | 5.5 |
 Bandages | 7 | 4.3 |
 Surgery | 7 | 4.3 |
 Nutritional supplementation | 4 | 2.5 |
 Wound care program | 4 | 2.5 |
 Complementary and alternative medicine | 2 | 1.2 |
Comparators examined * | Â | Â |
 Usual care | 63 | 45.7 |
 Dressings | 34 | 24.6 |
 Bandages | 8 | 5.8 |
 Not reported | 8 | 5.8 |
 Support surfaces | 7 | 5.1 |
 Other topical | 5 | 3.6 |
 Wound cleansing | 5 | 3.6 |
 Stockings | 4 | 2.9 |
 Other oral | 2 | 1.5 |
 All other treatments | 1 | 0.7 |
 Skin replacement | 1 | 0.7 |
Number of treatment comparisons per outcome | Â | Â |
Systematic reviews with a meta-analysis | n = 143 comparisons | % |
 Wound area/size reduction | 10 | 7.0 |
 Time to healing or rate of healing | 10 | 7.0 |
 Ulcer healing | 20 | 14.0 |
 Proportion of patients with healed wounds | 97 | 67.8 |
 No healing improvement | 5 | 3.5 |
 Length of hospitalization | 1 | 0.7 |
Systematic reviews without a meta-analysis | n = 184 comparisons | % |
 Wound area/size reduction | 18 | 9.8 |
 Time to healing or rate of healing | 53 | 28.8 |
 Ulcer healing | 92 | 50.0 |
 Proportion of patients with healed wounds | 21 | 11.4 |