Review: debridement using hydrogel seems to be better than standard wound care for healing diabetic foot ulcer.

M a i n r e s u l t s 5 trials met the selection criteria. 3 trials compared hydrogel as a method of debridement with standard wound care (good wound care or gauze). 1 trial compared hydrogel with larval therapy. 1 trial compared surgical debridement with conservative care. In all 5 trials, the primary outcome was complete wound closure. Sample sizes ranged from 29 to 172 patients. In 4 trials, follow-up durations ranged from 3 to 6 months. Metaanalysis of 3 trials showed that hydrogel was associated with a greater proportion of completely healed ulcers and fewer complications than standard wound care (Table). In 1 trial, larvae and hydrogel did not differ for proportion of ulcers completely healed (7% vs 3%, follow-up duration not reported). In 1 trial, surgical debridement and conservative care did not differ for proportion of ulcers completely healed (95% vs 79%, P = 0.10), recurrence rates (14% vs 33%, P = 0.14), or complication rates (5% vs 13%, P = 0.40) at 6 months.