Human amniotic membrane allograft, a novel treatment for chronic diabetic foot ulcers: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of human amniotic membrane (HAM) allograft in treating chronic diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), a comprehensive search of randomised controlled trials in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PubMed, CENTRAL and Web of Science was conducted to December 7, 2019. Two reviewers independently screened the studies, extracted data, and evaluated the quality of studies. The primary outcome was the proportion of complete healing. The secondary outcomes were mean time to complete healing and adverse events. Statistical analyses were performed using RevMan 5.3. We identified 257 articles, of which 7 articles (465 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. The proportion of complete wound healing in HAM plus standard of care (SOC) group was 3.88 times as high as that in SOC alone (RR: 3.88 [95% CI: 2.34, 6.44]) at 6 weeks, and 2.01 times at 12 weeks (RR: 2.01 [95%CI: 1.45, 2.77]). The intervention group had a significantly shorter time to complete healing (MD: -30.33 days, [95% CI: -37.95, -22.72]). The number needed to treat within 6 weeks was 2.3 ([95% CI: 1.8, 3.1]). No significant difference was shown in adverse events. Results were consistent in a sensitivity analysis. Hence, HAM plus SOC is effective and safe in treating chronic DFUs.