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 | ||
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 | ||
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 | ||
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 * | ||
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 | ||
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 * | ||
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 * | ||
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 * | ||
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 | ||
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 |