Effectiveness of Microcurrent Therapy for Treating Pressure Ulcers in Older People: A Double-Blind, Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial

The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of microcurrent therapy for healing pressure ulcers in aged people. A multicentric, randomized clinical trial was designed with a sham stimulation control. The experimental group received an intervention following a standardized protocol for curi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2022-08, Vol.19 (16), p.10045
Main Authors: Avendaño-Coy, Juan, Martín-Espinosa, Noelia M., Ladriñán-Maestro, Arturo, Gómez-Soriano, Julio, Suárez-Miranda, María Isabel, López-Muñoz, Purificación
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analgesics
Blood pressure
Clinical trials
Curing
Diabetes
Double-blind studies
Expenditures
Growth factors
Healing
Infections
Intervention
Nursing homes
Older people
Pressure
Pressure ulcers
Public health
Stimulation
Therapists
Therapy
Ulcers
Variables
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Summary:The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of microcurrent therapy for healing pressure ulcers in aged people. A multicentric, randomized clinical trial was designed with a sham stimulation control. The experimental group received an intervention following a standardized protocol for curing ulcers combined with 10 h of microcurrent therapy daily for 25 days. The sham group received the same curing protocol plus a sham microcurrent stimulation. The studied healing-related variables were the Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (PUSH) and the surface, depth, grade, and number of ulcers that healed completely. Three evaluations were conducted: pre-intervention (T1), 14 days following the start of the intervention (T2), and 1 day after the intervention was completed (T3). In total, 30 participants met the inclusion criteria (n = 15 in each group). The improvement in the PUSH at T2 and T3 was 16.8% (CI95% 0.5–33.1) and 25.3% (CI95% 7.6–43.0) greater in the experimental group versus the sham control, respectively. The reduction in the wound area at T2 and T3 was 20.1% (CI95% 5.2–35.0) and 28.6% (CI95% 11.9–45.3) greater in the experimental group versus the control, respectively. Microcurrent therapy improves the healing of pressure ulcers in older adults, both quantitatively and qualitatively.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph191610045