The Impact of Nutritional Condition and Compression Treatment on Venous Ulcer Recovery: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Venous ulcers are open wounds commonly associated with chronic venous insufficiency. Each patient's healing process is unique, and factors like nutrition and compression therapy can affect it. Compression therapy and optimal nutritional status can assist in improving venous blood circulation, decreasing swelling, and promoting wound healing. This in-depth review looks at all the recent research on how nutrition and compression therapy can help heal venous ulcers, aiming to develop evidence-based guidelines for improving treatment outcomes. The systematic review, registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) and following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) principles, conducted an extensive electronic search in databases such as PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus. Using Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms and different types of studies, the search method focused on studies that directly looked at how nutrition and compression therapy affected the healing of venous ulcers. After deduplicating and screening publications, a collaborative full-text review was conducted to determine their inclusion. As a result, several research studies were chosen for the qualitative synthesis. The authors created a data extraction form to document important variables such as demographics, therapy specifics, and wound features. Several studies on patients with venous ulcers have shown that consuming basic nutrients can improve wound healing. Treatment results differed depending on the types of compression and pressure intensity. Although minimal data indicates the possible benefits of two-layer therapy, a definitive comparison is still uncertain. Further clinical studies are necessary to investigate a wider range of dietary factors and to evaluate different treatments in similar situations.

Keywords: compression bandages; compression therapy; malnutrition; nutrition assessment; undernutrition; varicose ulcer; venous leg ulcer; venous ulcer.

Figure 1. Detailed PRISMA chart used for this systematic review, outlining the many stages of the study selection process.

The search technique included searching several databases as follows: PubMed (n=55), Embase (n=170), and Web of Science (n=286). At first, the records were checked for duplicates, leaving 511 distinct records. During the eligibility phase, 26 records were reviewed and 242 records were eliminated based on established criteria. Out of the records reviewed, 25 full-text articles were evaluated for eligibility, excluding 14 articles with indicated reasons. Twelve papers met the criteria for inclusion in the qualitative synthesis. PRISMA: Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses