Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Diabetes. Oct 15, 2018; 9(10): 172-179
Published online Oct 15, 2018. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v9.i10.172
Topical application of platelet-rich plasma for diabetic foot ulcers: A systematic review
Takashi Hirase, Eric Ruff, Salim Surani, Iqbal Ratnani
Takashi Hirase, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Eric Ruff, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555, United States
Salim Surani, Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Texas A and M University, Corpus Christi, TX 77807, United States
Iqbal Ratnani, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, United States
Author contributions: Hirase T and Ruff E designed the research; Hirase T and Ruff E performed the research; Hirase T analyzed the data; Hirase T and Ruff E wrote the paper; Surani S and Ratnani I supervised the paper; all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare that they have no competing interests.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Salim Surani, FACC, FACP, MD, Adjunct Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Texas A and M University, 701 Ayers street, Corpus Christi, TX 77807, United States. srsurani@hotmail.com
Telephone: +1-361-8857722 Fax: +1-361-8857792
Received: May 2, 2018
Peer-review started: May 3, 2018
First decision: June 8, 2018
Revised: June 15, 2018
Accepted: June 28, 2018
Article in press: June 28, 2018
Published online: October 15, 2018
Core Tip

Core tip: There is growing evidence supporting the use of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to enhance the healing process of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). This systematic review of eleven articles (322 PRP subjects, 126 controls) showed that healing rate was significantly faster with PRP application compared to controls (0.68 ± 0.56 cm2/wk vs 0.39 ± 0.09 cm2/wk; P < 0.001). There were significantly lower adverse effects reported with PRP application compared to controls. The authors conclude that the topical application of PRP for DFUs results in statistically superior healing rates compared to controls with lower complication rates.