Summary of findings 1. Hydrogel dressings compared with gauze and saline for venous leg ulcers healing.
| Hydrogel dressings compared to gauze and saline for venous leg ulcers healing | ||||||
| Patient or population: people with venous leg ulcers Setting: not reported Intervention: hydrogel dressings Comparison: gauze and saline | ||||||
| Outcomes | Anticipated absolute effects* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | № of participants (studies) | Certainty of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Risk with gauze and saline | Risk with hydrogel dressings | |||||
| Complete wound healing | Study population | RR 5.33 (1.73 to 16.42) | 60 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very lowa,b | It is uncertain if there is any difference in complete ulcer healing between hydrogel and gauze and saline. | |
| 100 per 1000 | 533 per 1000 (173 to 1000) | |||||
| Incidence of wound infection | Not reported. | |||||
| Changes in ulcer size (cm²) | The mean difference form follow‐up to baseline was –0.8 cm² | The mean difference form follow‐up to baseline was –2.3 cm² | MD 1.50 lower (1.86 lower to 1.14 lower) | 60 (1 RCT) | ⊕⊝⊝⊝ Very lowa,b | It is uncertain if there is any difference in change in ulcer size between hydrogel and gauze and saline. |
| Time‐to‐ulcer healing | Not reported. | |||||
| Health‐related quality of life | Not reported. | |||||
| Costs | Not reported. | |||||
| *The risk in the intervention group (and its 95% confidence interval) is based on the assumed risk in the comparison group and the relative effect of the intervention (and its 95% CI). CI: confidence interval; MD: mean difference; RCT: randomised controlled trial; RR: risk ratio. | ||||||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High certainty: we are very confident that the true effect lies close to that of the estimate of the effect. Moderate certainty: we are moderately confident in the effect estimate: the true effect is likely to be close to the estimate of the effect, but there is a possibility that it is substantially different. Low certainty: our confidence in the effect estimate is limited: the true effect may be substantially different from the estimate of the effect. Very low certainty: we have very little confidence in the effect estimate: the true effect is likely to be substantially different from the estimate of effect. | ||||||
aDowngraded twice due to high risk of bias for attrition, incomplete outcome data and other bias, and unclear risk for the remaining bias assessments. bDowngraded once for imprecision due to small sample size.