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Clinical Research
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Recombinant human Epidermal growth factor (EGF) to enhance healing for diabetic foot ulcers First Author: Joon Pio Hong Authors: Joon Pio HOng, MD, PhD, MBA Seung Kook Park, PhD. Purpose: This paper studies the healing effect of recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rh-EGF) on chronic diabetic foot ulcers. Method: A total of 89 patients aging from 36 to 82 years (average: 54) enrolled for the prospective, open-label trial, cross-over study. Predetermined criteria were used for diagnosis and classification of ulcer. The average duration of ulcer was 6 months (range: 3-27 months). The ulcers were debrided and treated with hydrocolloid or composite dressing depending on the condition of the wound. If treatment effect was minimal using advanced dressing for three weeks, patients were crossed over to twice a day treatment with 0.005% EGF (nepidermin, Daewoong Pharmaceuticals, Korea) and advanced dressing. Result: Twenty one patients showed improvement using advanced dressing alone and 68 patients were crossed over to treatment with EGF and advanced dressing. In the EGF treated patients, complete healing was noted in 52 patients within average of 46 days (range: 2-14 weeks). Recurrence was not noted during the 6 months observation. But 5 patients showed new lesion different from the prior site. Sixteen patients required further interventions. Conclusion: This paper suggests that topical treatment with EGF combined with advanced dressing may enhance the healing of chronic diabetic foot wounds. |
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