Background: Pressure ulcers affect 10% of people in hospitals and older people are at highest risk. The correlation between nutritional intake and the development of pressure ulcers is suggested by several studies, but the results are inconsistent.
Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of enteral and parenteral nutrition on the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers.
Search strategy: The Cochrane Wounds Group Specialised Trials Register and the Cochrane Central register of Controlled Trials were searched in September 2002. An additional search of PubMed and Cinahl and hand search of conference proceedings and journals was performed, bibliographies of relevant articles were examined and experts in the field as well as manufacturers were contacted in order to find additional literature that may be relevant.
Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of enteral or parenteral nutrition on the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers by measuring the incidence of new ulcers, ulcer healing or changes in pressure ulcer severity. There were no restrictions on patients, setting, date, publication status or language.
Data collection and analysis: Abstracts were independently inspected and full articles were obtained of potentially relevant studies. In case of disagreement advice was sought from a third person (AK). Data extraction and assessment of quality were undertaken by the three reviewers independently.
Main results: Only 8 randomised controlled trials out of 16 potentially relevant articles were included. However, most of the 8 trials included are small and of poor methodological quality.
Prevention: Four studies compared a combination of nutritional supplements, consisting of a minimum of energy and protein in different dosages, for the prevention of pressure ulcers. The largest study found that nutritional supplements reduced the number of new pressure ulcers (Bourdel-M 2000). The three smaller studies lacked power.
Treatment: Four studies evaluated the effects of nutritional supplements for the treatment of existing pressure ulcers: one trial examined mixed nutritional supplements, one trial examined zinc, another the effect of proteins, and two studies compared ascorbic acid. The trials included are heterogeneous with regard to participants, interventions and outcomes; therefore it was considered inappropriate to perform a meta-analysis.
Reviewer's conclusions: It was not possible to draw any firm conclusions on the effect of enteral and parenteral nutrition on the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers. Further trials of high methodological quality are necessary.