Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma in The Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcer: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract

Context: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) remains a devastating and prevalent complication of diabetes, which leads to significant morbidity, mortality, and economic implications. Outcomes of DFU management are still unsatisfactory, warranting innovations to improve them. One accessible and promising potential for treating DFU is autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a blood product abundant in bioactive molecules. Platelet-rich plasma has been used in other fields of medicine to treat various conditions. Evidence Acquisition: While there is substantial research studying the use of PRP for DFU, these studies are regarded as having flaws in methodology. Hence, this systematic review aims to bridge the knowledge gap by only including randomized controlled trials (RCT). Results: After sifting through various databases, six studies were included. This review focused on specific outcomes, namely percentage of patients with healed wounds, wound size, and time to closure. Conclusions: The authors found that PRP has performed well with regards to healing DFU wounds with a high rate of healing, which leads to a shorter time to wound closure.