Efficacy and tolerance of hyaluronic acid for the treatment of leg ulcers

Efficacy and tolerance of a hydrocolloid dressing containing hyaluronic acid for the treatment of leg ulcers of venous or mixed origin

Article specifications

This multicenter (a total of 18 centres in three countries: France, fifteen centres; Italy, two centres; and Switzerland, one centre), prospective, randomized, parallel groups study was published in 2008 in Current Medical Research and Opinion journal (IF 2016: 2.757) by French and Italian specialists. This study was aimed at comparing efficacy and tolerance of a new hydrocolloid dressing containing hyaluronic acid (HC‏+HA) to a reference hydrocolloid not containing hyaluronic acid (HC) in the treatment of leg ulcers of venous or mixed origin. 125 patients (in- or out-patients of both gender, of 18 years of age or more) were enrolled and treated for up to 42 days. The primary efficacy criterion was the reduction of the wound area; other efficacy criteria were the condition of the wound bed, and of the surrounding skin, and presence and severity of symptoms such as pain and itching.

Results

The results of this study indicate that there was at least equivalence between the two dressing tested as far as facilitating ulcer healing, with a positive trend for the HC+‏HA dressing to be more effective than the reference HC dressing on the primary efficacy criterion and some of the other efficacy and tolerability parameters. HC+‏HA was also found to be as safe as the standard HC dressing routinely used in the clinical practice. If the preliminary data obtained in this trial are confirmed, the HC‏+HA dressing could become an alternative choice for the treatment of leg ulcers of venous or mixed origin in clinical practice.