Systematic review of the impact and treatment of malnutrition in patients with chronic vascular wounds

Abstract

Background: Chronic wounds affect at least 1.9% of the population, significantly impairing quality of life for sufferers and placing a large financial burden on the health system1,2. Adequate nutrition is required for wound healing and many patients with chronic wounds are significantly malnourished.

Methods: A systematic search of the literature was conducted utilising the Medline, PubMed, Cochrane Library and CINAHL Plus databases. The terms malnutrition and nutrition in alternate searches were used in various combinations with the Boolean phrase ‘AND’ to find applicable articles: chronic wound, wound healing, ulcer, diabetic, venous, arterial and foot. A total of 20 articles fit the criteria to review.

Results: This review has established that it is likely that malnutrition contributes to wound severity and limb loss; however, this is only level 3 evidence2-4. This review has identified a paucity of consistent evidence of the influence of nutrition on wound healing.

RAS ID

27115

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2017

Location of the Work

Australia

School

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

Cambridge Publishing

Comments

Stopher, L., & Jansen, S. (2017). Systematic review of the impact and treatment of malnutrition in patients with chronic vascular wounds. Wound Practice & Research: Journal of the Australian Wound Management Association, 25(2), 71. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.927566385964390

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