Diabetic Foot Ulcer Study Compares Healing Outcomes

The ovine forestomach matrix (OFM) is an effective first-line intervention to improve wound closure rates for patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), according to new study data.

Current data indicates that 1 in 6 patients with a DFU—the leading cause of nontraumatic amputations in the United States—will undergo an amputation, and DFUs represent a high economic burden to the US health care system. Moreover, the incidence of adult type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide.

To better understand the healing outcomes of these patients, the researchers conducted the first large retrospective real-world analysis in outpatient wound care centers to compare the healing outcomes of DFUs treated with either OFM or collagen/oxidized regenerated cellulose (ORC). The researchers examined data from a pool of 31,883 wounds that were managed from January 1, 2014, to June 30, 2020, representing 449 US wound care centers.

The researchers found that patients who were treated with OFM had an 18% greater probability of their wound healing vs patients treated with collagen/ORC. After adjusting for variables, the probability increases to 21%.

In addition, the median time to wound closure was 14.6 ± 0.5 weeks among the OFM group vs 16.4 ± 0.7 weeks among the collagen/ORC group. In a subgroup analysis of DFUs, OFM reduced the healing time 5.3 weeks faster than collagen/ORC.

“This retrospective [real-world data] analysis demonstrates that the use of OFM reduced the median time to closure, increased the percentage of wounds closed, and increased the probability of closure relative to wounds managed with collagen/ORC,” the researchers wrote. “Differences between OFM and collagen/ORC were most apparent for wounds that required a greater number of [wound care center] visits. This [real-world data] study further substantiates the growing body of evidence to support the use of OFM as a first-line intervention to improve wound closure rates.”

Reference

Bosque BA, Frampton C, Chaffin AE, et al. Retrospective real-world comparative effectiveness of ovine forestomach matrix and collagen/ORC in the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers. Int Wound J. 2022;19(4):741-753. doi:10.1111/iwj.13670