Controlling Maceration in Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Scoping Review

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are a severe late complication of diabetes, and maceration of the periwound skin is one of the problems that affect the healing process. However, no systematic method to control maceration has been established. The aim of this scoping review was to summarize the available evidence on management methods that can be used to control maceration in DFUs and to identify gaps in the research.

Scoping review guided by the PRISMA-Scoping Review (ScR) checklist.

Four databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, and Google Scholar) were searched using a combination of terms related to the maceration and the DFUs, with 2 independent researchers screening the articles according to the inclusion criteria and then extracting the data. The inclusion criteria required that all articles needed to report original research/case studies that involved patients with DFUs, and examined management methods that could be used to control maceration.

This literature search yielded 1814 articles, of which 16 met the inclusion criteria. Three types of management methods were reported for controlling the maceration. They were absorption of the exudate (extracted from 10 records), application of antimicrobial (extracted from 5 records), and reducing oxidative stress (extracted from 1 record).

Although management methods that can be used to control maceration have been examined by previous studies, we found none that investigated which method was the best for treating for the different conditions found for maceration in the DFUs. Further research is needed to establish guidelines for selecting the management method in accordance with the severity of the maceration in the DFUs.