Effectiveness of Medical Honey for Leg Ulceration and Wound Care Literature review

Effectiveness of Medical Honey for Leg Ulceration and Wound Care - Literature review Example These methods of wound care are meant to facilitate recovery and prevent the infection of the wound (Hess, 2004). In instances of prolonged healing, additional and alternative measures of wound care are often considered. One of these methods includes the use of medical honey (Boulton, Cavanaugh, and Rayman, 2006). Medical honey has been considered as an alternative form of therapy in wound management, especially for chronic and diabetic pressure ulcers (Boulton, et.al., 2006). Leg ulcers are common among diabetic patients and with diabetic patients often having prolonged wound healing times, the importance of implementing speedy and effective wound healing methods has become imperative (Shai and Maibach, 2004). The use of medical honey has been recommended by various studies and practitioners, with much support attributed to its use due to its healing and antibacterial properties (Shai and Maibach, 2004). The more traditional practitioners however have not supported the use of medica l honey over and above conventional methods of healing. Studies with contrasting results have been presented on this subject matter. For which reason, this study now seeks to carry out a literature review on studies discussing the use of medical honey for leg ulceration and wound care. ... A conclusion shall also provide a summary of the paper and a discussion on how the results of this study can contribute to the nursing practice. Literature Review Search strategy This literature review is being carried out in order to establish a critical analysis of the current research information on the efficacy of medical honey on leg ulcers and wound care. This literature review shall start through an internet database search of Google Scholar, Cochrane, PubMed, Medline Plus, and CINAHL using the following key words: medical honey leg ulcers; honey leg ulcers; and honey wound healing. The search shall also be narrowed down to a time limit from December 2006 to August 2012. Specific studies which discuss the efficacy of medical honey on leg ulcers and other wounds shall be prioritized and set aside for abstract review. Randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, systematic reviews, case studies, prospective, and English-language studies shall be used as inclusion criteria for t he literature search. Secondary research studies, retrospective, chart reviews, descriptive, non-English language literature shall be excluded from this review. Those meeting the inclusion criteria shall then be set aside for further review, mostly on authors, publication, reliability, and validity of results. Critical Analysis: Support for the use of honey in leg ulceration Various studies have been carried out on the use of medical honey on leg ulcers and other wounds (Cooper, et.al., 2010). In a study by Molan (2009), the antibacterial qualities of honey in wound care was reviewed. His systematic review discussed the inhibitory impact of honey seen in bacteria which often infect wounds. Based on Moran’s (2011) study, honey was seen to have