Trial reportDiabetologia2023
Prospective randomised placebo-controlled trial assessing the efficacy of silver dressings to enhance healing of acute diabetes-related foot ulcers.
Trial report in Diabetologia, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- The efficacy of three antimicrobial dressings in the management of diabetic foot ulcers: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Analysis of therapeutic effect of silver-based dressings on chronic wound healing.International wound journal · 2024Pooled it
- Rhein-induced free fatty acid generation cooperates with silver ions for biofilm-infected diabetic wound healing.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Article
- Research on Silver-Based Wound Dressing: An Ontological Analysis.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
- Self-regulating hydrogel for diabetic wound healing: From animal models to a pilot clinical study.Science advances · 2026Article
- The Role of Silver and Silver-Based Products in Wound Management: A Review of Advances and Current Landscape.Journal of functional biomaterials · 2026Review
- Meta-analysis on the safety and efficacy of different dressings in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.Open medicine (Warsaw, Poland) · 2026Article
- Comparison of tibial cortex transverse transport and free anterolateral thigh perforator flap in the treatment of severe diabetic foot ulcers: a retrospective study.Frontiers in surgery · 2026Article
- Activity of silver-zinc nanozeolite-based antibiofilm wound dressings in an in vitro biofilm model and comparison with commercial dressings.Discover nano · 2025Article
- Research Progress of Multifunctional Hydrogels in Promoting Wound Healing of Diabetes.International journal of nanomedicine · 2025Review
- An Overview of Recent Clinical Trials for Diabetic Foot Ulcer Therapies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Review
- Commercial Silver-Based Dressings: In Vitro and Clinical Studies in Treatment of Chronic and Burn Wounds.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Brazilian Society of Angiology and Vascular Surgery 2023 guidelines on the diabetic foot.Jornal vascular brasileiro · 2024Article
- Clinical Efficacy of Hyaluronic Acid with Iodine in Hard-to-Heal Wounds.Pharmaceutics · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aims/hypothesisSilver dressings are used for their antimicrobial properties but there is limited evidence of clinical benefit when managing diabetes-related foot ulcers (DFUs). We aimed to assess whether silver dressings in acute DFUs increased the proportion of ulcers healed compared with non-silver dressings.
methodsIn this open-labelled, randomised controlled trial, consecutive individuals who presented to a tertiary multidisciplinary diabetic foot service with a DFU without osteomyelitis or tendon on view of <6 weeks' duration were randomised 1:1 via a computer-generated randomisation process to receive Acticoat (Smith & Nephew, England) dressing (silver group) or dressing without silver (control group) in addition to standard care. Stratified randomisation was performed to ensure that the presence of peripheral arterial disease and infection were equally managed within the two groups. The primary outcome was the proportion of ulcers healed at 12 weeks. Secondary outcomes included time to heal and to 50% ulcer reduction, rates of osteomyelitis and amputation, and need for and duration of antibiotics.
resultsSeventy-six ulcers (55 participants) in the control group and 91 ulcers (63 participants) in the silver group were included. There was no difference in the proportion of ulcers healed by 12 weeks in the control vs silver group (75% vs 69%, p=0.49). After adjustment for presence of peripheral arterial disease, infection and initial ulcer size, silver dressing was not associated with odds of healing (OR 0.92; CI 0.26, 3.22; p=0.53). There was no difference in time to healing, progression to osteomyelitis, need for amputation, or duration of or need for antibiotic treatment. CONCLUSIONS/
interpretationIn individuals with acute DFUs without osteomyelitis or tendon on view, Acticoat silver dressings did not improve wound healing or reduce need for antibiotics compared with non-silver dressings.
trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614001234606
fundingAustralian Diabetes Society-unrestricted research award.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.