London, UK-based Smith & Nephew’s topical platelet-derived growth factor gel showed no benefit over placebo for healing superficial diabetic foot ulcers, according to a randomized controlled trial published in April in Wounds.
Investigators at the University of California Irvine Medical Center randomized 46 people with Wagner grade 1 ulcers and without severe peripheral arterial disease, osteomyelitis, or any infection requiring antibiotics to either a short leg walking cast plus a placebo gel or the cast plus daily application of Regranex gel. After 16 weeks they found no differences in healing rates between the two groups.
At nine months, the overall healing rate was 74%, and investigators concluded that excellent healing rates can be achieved with casting alone.
