Efficacy of Aloe vera/ Plantago Major Gel in Diabetic Foot Ulcer: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the most common complications of diabetic patients. Mostly, non-healing DFU leads to infection, gangrene, amputation and even death. High costs and poor healing of the wounds need a new treatment such as alternative medicine. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Aloe vera/ Plantago major gel (Plantavera gel) in healing of DFU.

Forty patients with DFU enrolled in a double-blind randomized clinical trial. The patients who were randomly assigned into the intervention group (n = 20), received topical Plantavera gel in addition to the routine cares, whereas the patients in the control group (n = 20), received topical Placebo gel in addition to the routine cares. Intervention was done twice a day for 4 weeks in the both groups. Photography and an evaluation of DFU healing were conducted by a checklist and then were scored at baseline and at the end of each week. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS software.

At the end of the study, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of total ulcer score (P<0.001) and Plantavera gel significantly reduced the ulcer surface comparing with the control group (P=0.039). However, there was not a significant difference between the two groups (P=0.263) in terms of the ulcer depth. During this study, no side effect was observed for Plantavera gel in the intervention group.

Topical Plantavera gel seems to be an effective, cheap and safe treatment. Of course, further studies are required to confirm the properties of the wound healing of this gel.