Autologous blood products: Leucocyte and Platelets Rich Fibrin (L-PRF) and Platelets Rich Plasma (PRP) gel to promote cutaneous ulcer healing - a systematic review

Abstract

Objective: To summarise evidence on the effectiveness of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) gel and Leucocyte and Platelet Rich Fibrin (L-PRF) gel as agents promoting ulcer healing compared with the standard wound dressing techniques alone.

Design: Systematic review.

Eligibility criteria: Individual patient randomised controlled trials on skin ulcers of all types excluding traumatic lesions.Intervention group: treatment with topical application of L-PRF gel or PRP gel to the wound surface.

Control group: treatment with standard skin ulcer care using normal saline, normgel or hydrogel dressings.

Information sources: Medline (Ovid), Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Scopus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Web of Science and manual search of studies from previous systematic reviews and meta-analyses. The papers published from 1946 to 2022 with no restriction on geography and language were included. The last date of the search was performed on 29 August 2022.

Data extraction and synthesis: Independent reviewers identified eligible studies, extracted data, assessed risk of bias using V.2 of the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomised trials tool and assessed certainty of evidence by using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.

Main outcome measures: Time to complete healing, proportion healed at a given time and rate of healing.

Results: Seven studies met the inclusion criteria, five using PRP gel and two using L-PRF gel. One study showed a better proportion of complete healing, three reported reduced meantime to complete healing and five showed improved rate of healing per unit of time in the intervention group. The risk of bias was high across all studies with one exception and the GRADE showed very low certainty of evidence.

Conclusion: The findings show potential for better outcomes in the intervention; however, the evidence remains inconclusive highlighting a large research gap in ulcer treatment and warrant better-designed clinical trials.

Prospero registration number: CRD42022352418.

Keywords: Surgical dermatology; Systematic Review; WOUND MANAGEMENT.