Honey Improves Wound Healing

Manuka Honey Improved Wound Healing in Patients with Sloughy Venous Leg Ulcers
Evidence-Based Medicine, 2009;14:148

Design: randomised controlled trial.

Allocation: concealed.*

Blinding: blinded (statistician).*

Study question

Setting: vascular centres, leg ulcer clinics, and acute and community care hospitals.

Patients: 108 patients >18 years of age (mean age 68 y) who had a venous leg ulcer (VLU) <100 cm2 with 50% of the wound bed covered in slough. Exclusion criteria were malignant ulcer, wound infection, presence of a cavity wound, use of antibiotics or oral immunosuppressants, poorly controlled diabetes, pregnancy or lactation, and previous enrolment in the study.

Intervention: Wounds were cleansed with warm tap water and then treated with 5 g/20 cm2 Manuka honey (n = 54), or 3 g/20 cm2 hydrogel therapy (n = 54), weekly for 4 weeks. Use of Allevyn hydrocellular foam as secondary dressings and compression therapy continued throughout the treatment period. Treatment after week 4 was determined by the local investigator.

Outcomes: VLU desloughing at 4 weeks and wound healing at 12 weeks.

Follow-up period: 12 weeks.

Patient follow-up: 100% in intention-to-treat...