Use of topic iodine in acute wounds

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to carry out a systematic review of the literature regarding the use of topic iodine and/or compounds in the treatment of acute wounds. The clinical trials were searched at the Cochrane's database using the following descriptors: iodine, acute wound, treatment, healing, infection, surgery, surgical. Twenty studies (52.6%) out of 38 met the criteria for inclusion. The articles were analyzed regarding journal and study characteristics and classified into five groups: iodine versus other topic agents (4/ 20%); iodine versus types of dressings (1/ 5%); iodine versus saline solution (5/ 25%); iodine versus no iodine (8/ 40%); and iodine at different concentrations (2/ 10%). Favorable results for the use of iodine and/or compounds occurred in 45% of the studies. Three out of 5 studies showed favorable results for healing and prevention of infection and 9 out of 15 studies were not favorable when only infection prevention was investigated.