Meta-analysis on the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers with autologous stem cells

Over the last decade, many studies have indicated a therapeutic potential for treating diabetic lower extremity ulcers with autologous stem cells. The aim of the current study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) with autologous stem cells. The search strategy included the Pubmed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Cochrane's Library databases. The endpoint measured was the healing of DFUs.Six eligible randomized controlled trial (RCT) studies were screened from related published studies and reviewed for meta-analysis. The overall meta-analysis showed that stem cell administration was significantly favorable for healing diabetic ulcers (mean difference (MD) 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.38-0.65; p < 0.00001). Subgroup analyses indicated that stem cells seemed to exert similar beneficial effects on patients with ulcer size ≥ 5 cm² (MD 0.76, 95% CI 0.55-0.97; p < 0.00001) and < 5 cm² (MD 0.43, 95% CI 0.31-0.54; p < 0.00001). Furthermore, stem cells had similar effects on patients aged ≥ 70 years (MD 0.61, 95% CI 0.14-1.08; p = 0.01) and < 70 years (MD 0.47, 95% CI 0.35-0.58; p < 0.00001). This systematic review and meta-analysis suggests a promising role for stem cells in DFU treatment. This review will pave the way to further study on the long-term effects of stem cell-based therapy and large-scale RCTs.