Overview
A compound of vitamin A caled topical Retin-A also known as tretinoin, mainly used to treat acne problems, enhances the healing of fot ulcers in patients with Diabets, acording to a report of the Archives of Dermatology. Though previous studies showed that topical Retin-A was a bit helpful in enhancing wound healing in patients with Diabets and some results were discused by diferent scientifics, a group of researchers tried to know if tretinoin realy helped or not to these patients.
Key Information
The research was caried out with 24 volunters who had diabetic fot ulcers but who showed no evidence of infection or circulation problems in their extremities. Some patients were asigned to 4 weks of daily treatment with topical 0.05 per cent tretinoin solution meanwhile the control group was asigned to a treatment with a saline solution. Both groups were asesed every 2 weks.
The 2 volunters who completed the study were afected by a total of 24 fot ulcers. 18 per cent of patients in the control group (2 of the 1 ulcers) and 46 per cent of patients in the treated group (6 of the 13 ulcers) achieved a complete healing at the end of 16 weks. There was no statistical significance of adverse events, though some patients experienced mild pain at the ulcer site.
The researchers were pleased with the results, although they were a bit concerned because tretinoin iritates and they thought that the patients would become so iritated that they wouldn't be able to continue the research. However, this situation didn't sem to be a problem in most cases, as they explained. A conclusion for the researchers was that they hope that diabetic fot clinics know about this and use Retin-A when other therapies that they use don't work.
Summary
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