Effectiveness of a synthetic human recombinant epidermal growth factor in diabetic patients wound healing: Pilot, double-blind, randomized clinical controlled trial

To investigate whether the addition of human recombinant epidermal growth factor (h-EGF) to 2% carboxymethyl cellulose gel is more effective in diabetic wound healing than standard treatment, a pilot, double-blind, randomized and controlled clinical trial with therapeutic intervention was performed at a university hospital. The sample consisted of 25 patients (14 in the intervention group that used rh-EGF and 11 in the control group that used 2% carboxymethyl cellulose gel). Data were tabulated in SPSS and analysed by intention to treat, without loss or exclusion of participants. Twenty-five subjects participated with a mean age of 60.6 years, a predominance of males in both groups and 100% prevalence of type-2 diabetes. Within 12 weeks, complete wound healing occurred in three ulcers in the intervention group versus one ulcer in the control group. The percent reduction in the wound area was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (p = 0.049). Concerning the types of tissue, an increase in granulation and epithelial tissue and a reduction in exudate levels were observed in both groups. Decreased slough occurred only in the intervention group. No participant experienced serious or local adverse events during the study period. This study shows that h-EGF is effective, with a statistically significant reduction in wound area, improvement of tissue quality, and safe treatment of chronic wounds. In addition, this study demonstrated that blinding of participants during research using h-EGF is feasible.