Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18547419›Full record

Trial reportBMC complementary and alternative medicine2008

Effectiveness of acupuncture, special dressings and simple, low-adherence dressings for healing venous leg ulcers in primary healthcare: study protocol for a cluster-randomized open-labeled trial.

Jorge Vas, Manuela Modesto, Camila Mendez, Emilio Perea-Milla, Inmaculada Aguilar, Jesus Manuel Carrasco-Lozano, Vicente Faus, Francisco Martos

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative StudyMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
3.4field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Dressings and topical agents for treating venous leg ulcers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Autologous platelet-rich plasma for treating chronic wounds.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016
    Pooled it
  4. Foam dressings for venous leg ulcers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013
    Pooled it
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.

Jorge VasPain Treatment Unit, Primary Healthcare Centre, Dos Hermanas, Spain. jorgef.vas.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es
Manuela Modesto
Camila Mendez
Emilio Perea-Milla
Inmaculada Aguilar
Jesus Manuel Carrasco-Lozano
Vicente Faus
Francisco Martos
Hospital Costa del Sol · ESMadrid Health Service · ESAndalusian School of Public Health · ESCentro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública · ESPrimary HealthCare · MTUniversidad de Málaga · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVenous leg ulcers constitute a chronic recurring complaint that affects 1.0-1.3% of the adult population at some time in life, and which corresponds to approximately 75% of all chronic ulcers of the leg. Multilayer compression bandaging is, at present, the only treatment that has been proved to be effective in treating this type of ulcer. There is no consensus, however, about the dressings that may be applied, beneath the compression, to promote the healing of this type of ulcer, as there does not seem to be any added benefit from using special dressings rather than simple, low-adherence ones. As well as analgesia, acupuncture provokes peripheral vasodilation, in skin and muscles - which has been demonstrated both experimentally and in clinical practice - probably due to the axon reflex, among other mechanisms. The aim of the present study is to measure the effectiveness and cost of compression treatment for venous leg ulcers combined with special dressings, in comparison with low-adherence ones and acupuncture. METHODS/

designCluster-randomized open-labeled trial, at 15 primary healthcare clinics in the Sevilla-Sur Healthcare District, with a control group treated with compression bandaging and low-adherence dressings; the experiment will consist, on the one hand, of the compression treatment applied in combination with special dressings (Treatment 1), and on the other, the compression treatment applied in association with low-adherence dressings, together with acupuncture (Treatment 2). DISCUSSION: The results will be measured and recorded in terms of the median time elapsed until complete healing of the ulcer, and the rate of complete healing at 3 months after beginning the treatment. An economic analysis will also be made. This study, carried out in the context of real clinical practice, will provide information for decision-taking concerning the effectiveness of special dressings. Moreover, for the first time a high-quality study will evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the process of healing venous leg ulcers.

trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN26438275.

Indexed as

AcupunctureBandagesRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicAdultChronic DiseaseCluster AnalysisCost-Benefit AnalysisHumansProspective StudiesQuality of LifeResearch DesignSample SizeSecondary PreventionSurvival AnalysisTreatment OutcomeVaricose Ulcer

Identifiers

PMID18547419
PMCPMC2432047
OpenAlexW2029080405

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.