Use of honey in diabetic foot ulcer: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Yildiz Karadeniz E, Kaplan Serin E · Journal of Tissue Viability · 2023 May

DOI 10.1016/j.jtv.2023.03.002

Objective

To investigate the role of honey dressing as an effective intervention for diabetic foot wound management.

Conclusions

Honey dressing effectively reduces wound recovery time and rate, incurred pain, hospital stay, and accelerates granulation in DFU wounds.

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Insights

Honey dressing significantly promotes healing and reduces recovery time in managing diabetic foot ulcers.

For the research methodology, the study used a combination of randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental, and cross-sectional studies. Only the randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies were chosen for the meta-analysis, while observational studies were subject to a descriptive analysis. In terms of the results discussion, the meta-analysis indicated that using honey as a dressing for diabetic foot ulcers resulted in a reduction in wound recovery time, pain experienced, duration of hospital stay, and an acceleration in wound granulation. Therefore, it was concluded that honey dressing is an effective intervention for accelerating healing in diabetic foot ulcers.