Effectiveness and safety of oral cilostazol for treatment of patients with venous leg ulcers.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Venous ulcers are common in the adult population, causing significant social and economic impact due to recurrence and the long interval between onset and healing. Despite the high prevalence and importance of venous ulcers are often neglected and inadequately managed. The main methods for the healing of the ulcer is compression therapy, use of curative local treatment, medications, systemic and surgical treatment. Cilostazol as antithrombotic, antiplatelet, vasodilator, among other actions, has been indicated as adjunctive therapy in patients with venous ulcers, but its indication to aid the healing of ulcers is still uncertain. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a systematic review to define the action and utility of oral cilostazol in these patients. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of using oral cilostazol in the treatment of patients with venous leg ulcers. METHOD: This is a systematic review of randomized clinical trials in patients with venous stasis by undergoing treatment with oral cilostazol. Electronic search will be conducted with specific search strategy for this review through the following databases: Medline (1966-2011), Register of Controlled Trials Cochrane (2011), EMBASE (1974-2011), Lilacs (1988-2011) and will be selected studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria. Will be evaluating the outcomes according to the primary criteria (healing time, quality of life) and secondary (recurrence of venous ulcers, headaches, tachycardia, palpitations, diarrhea). Two reviewers will assess, independently, the references found by the search strategy, and apply the criteria for inclusion in selected studies using the scales of methodological quality of the Cochrane Handbook.