A trial to determine the role of placental extract in the treatment of chronic non-healing wounds.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of topical placental extract in the treatment of non-healing wounds.

METHOD

One hundred patients attending the wound clinic at University Hospital, Varanasi, India, with wounds of more than six weeks' duration were recruited. Fifty patients were treated with placental extract, and 50 were controls. Wound biopsy and swab culture and sensitivity were performed and the area surrounding the wound was X-rayed. Wound size was measured and the rate of epithelialisation assessed at weekly follow-ups. In nine cases biopsies were repeated after two weeks of treatment and sent for histopathological examination, including angiogenesis.

RESULTS

Thirty patients dropped out, leaving 40 cases in the treatment group and 30 in the control group. Over an eight-week period, 27 patients (67.5%) in the treatment group showed more than 50% epithelialisation, compared with only seven patients (23.3%) in the control group.

CONCLUSION

Placental extract has a beneficial role to play as a topical agent in the management of chronic non-healing wounds.