Topical honey for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer: A systematic review

• Honey has been used for treatment of wound since ancient time but evidence supporting this is limited.
• This review shows that honey is safer in diabetic foot ulcer patients but there is insufficient data about its efficacy.
• This review suggests requirement of randomized clinical trial with uniform inclusion criteria and with ample followup period.

Topical honey has been used for the treatment of wound since ancient time. But the medical evidence proving it is limited. Hence a systematic review was planned. An exhaustive literature search was done in PUBMED, COCHRANE, GOOGLE using ‘topical honey’, ‘diabetic foot ulcer’, ‘chronic wounds’ as key words. Literature search showed total of five clinical trials and about ten observational studies in various part of world. Out of five clinical trials three concluded that honey dressing is better than conventional dressing, all the clinical trials proved safety of honey for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer. Observational studies included total of 320 patients which also showed safety of honey but efficacy cannot be considered from observational studies. This review showed that honey dressing is safer for treatment of diabetic foot ulcer but there is insufficient good quality data to realistically conclude on the efficacy of honey on diabetic foot ulcers.