Resina Draconis as a topical treatment for pressure ulcers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

In recent years, a number of studies have reported on Resina Draconis (RD) as a topical treatment for pressure ulcers. To evaluate these studies, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the efficacy of RD for pressure ulcers. We searched eight electronic databases to identify randomized controlled trials in which RD treatment was compared with other topical treatment of pressure ulcers from 1980 to 2014. Selection of studies, study appraisal, data extraction and analysis were undertaken using standard methods. Fourteen randomized controlled trials were included involving 618 patients. The results of the meta-analysis showed that, RD treatment was significantly associated with a higher healing rate for pressure ulcers (risk ratio 2.07, 95% confidence intervals 1.73-2.48, p < 0.001). The results of descriptive analysis showed that, compared with the control group, RD treatment shortened healing time. As for safety, adverse reactions had not been reported. These results suggest that RD can improve the healing rate for pressure ulcers and shorten the healing time, compared with other topical treatments. However, due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, this conclusion needs to be proved by more high quality studies.