Complementary Medicine and Venous Ulcers: Review of Literature

Abstract

Introduction: Complementary medicine has ancient historical roots and its use is constantly changing. It alongside scientific medicine is useful in the treatment of many diseases, including oncological, respiratory, and dermatological. It is used in the treatment of pain and in the local treatment of various ulcers (lesions) skin. In particular, scientific medicine uses several treatments for venous ulcers with not completely effective outcomes. Effective treatment prevents complications and improves the quality of life of patients. There is scientific evidence on the efficacy of complementary medicine in the treatment of venous ulcers of the lower limbs. Methods:It was performed as a literature review on the databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE and COCHRANE with the aim of detecting the evidence of efficacy of complementary medicine interventions in the treatment of venous ulcers and ways to treat it. We used the keywords and thesaurus descriptors for complementary medicine. We included the following drawings of relevant studies to the subject of the research: systematic reviews randomized controlled trials (RCTs), case control studies, observational studies, case reports, studies, and expert opinion in English, conducted on humans. For the purpose of this research, 174 documents were identified, of which only 15 were relevant and were within the inclusion criteria.Results: An analysis of the literature shows that many studies have evaluated the effectiveness of aloe, calendula, standardized extract from the aerial parts of A. pichinchensis, Mimosa tenuiflora, modified linen bandages, products made of honey found on the market, herbal therapies, polarized light therapy combined with herbal and plant biomembranes. However, these findings are insufficient to support or deny that one treatment is more effective than another. These results are not widely generalizable because of the low number of samples studied. Conclusion:Despite the interest in complementary medicine and the treatment of venous ulcers, there is currently no truly effective treatment strategy. The detected evidence is insufficient to make significant changes in the treatment of venous leg ulcers with complementary medicine interventions. The available studies on the treatment of venous leg ulcers with products based on plants have not established the existence of a treatment that may be effective individually. Additional studies would be needed to demonstrate the efficacy of these treatments.