The following is a summary of “Influence of Nutrition Status and Compression Therapy on Venous Ulcer Healing: A Systematic Review,” published in the January 2023 issue of Critical Care by Rodríguez, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to conduct a literature study to ascertain whether dietary status and compression treatments had an impact on venous ulcer healing.

In order to conduct a systematic review of the literature, descriptors in Spanish and English were used to search the PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases for papers published between 2015 and 2020. 114 articles were discovered once the research topic was established, and the filters based on inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. 11 publications were chosen for the review after screening; 8 of them were found via the literature search, and 3 more were included from the bibliographic references of other research. Author, country, year of publication, level of evidence, research design, therapy type, initial ulcer size, history of active ulcers, pain, healed wounds, wound reduction, therapy tolerance, nutrition assessment method, body mass index, and nutrition disorders were all noted on a data extraction sheet that the authors created.

According to 4 research that looked at the connection between dietary status and the recovery of venous ulcers, people with these conditions frequently had high body mass indices, nutrient deficiencies such as vitamin A, D, or zinc, as well as an excess of lipids and carbs. Seven research tested various compression techniques to see which produced the greatest outcomes; two- and four-layer treatments were the most popular. A better prognosis was related to factors like recent start and small wound size.

The criteria examined in terms of nutrition were fairly constrained. There was little evidence to favor one method of therapy over another, despite several studies demonstrating that two-layer therapy resulted in the highest ulcer healing. More clinical trials were therefore required to investigate broader nutritional aspects and compare different therapeutic modalities in matched settings to ascertain their impact on ulcer healing.

Reference: journals.lww.com/aswcjournal/Abstract/2023/01000/Influence_of_Nutrition_Status_and_Compression.9.aspx