Medicinal use of potato-derived products: conclusions of a rapid versus full systematic review

Abstract

Vlachojannis et al reported a systematic review on the medicinal use of potato-derived products. The authors identified five trials for inclusion in the review, including one study on the treatment of burns. Based on this RCT the review authors concluded that potato peel is not recommended for burns. As the authors of a rapid review on the use of potato peels for burns, we read this systematic review with great interest. Although the concept of rapid review is rising, accelerating the review process might introduce bias and its conclusions may be subject to change once a systematic review is available. Since this rapid and systematic review were done at similar times, we explored if the results were consistent. We identified three trials on the use of potato peels. Two of these trials were not mentioned in the systematic review. The evidence indicates that sterile potato peel dressings are better than gauze alone during the healing phase.While there is no evidence of an antibacterial effect, we concluded that potato peels promote healing. Potato peel dressings might be the best available dressing in resource poor countries. Because systematic reviews have a major impact it is crucial that systematic reviews meet specified quality criteria. Therefore we draw attention to adherance to the PRISMA statement.