Vibration therapy for patients with hard-to-heal wounds: A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies.

Introduction: Hard-to-heal wounds lead to functional loss, decreased quality of life, and prolonged hospitalization due to delayed healing. The healthcare costs of managing such wounds are substantial. Vibration therapy has been proposed as an alternative treatment for hard-to-heal wounds but no comprehensive reviews have quantitatively analyzed its efficacy.

Materials and methods: Six databases were systematically searched for relevant articles on August 1, 2024. The methodologies of the studies included in the analysis were assessed using Version 2 of the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool for randomized trials and ROBINS-I tool for non-randomized studies. A random-effects model was applied to aggregate the pooled effect size. Heterogeneity was assessed using I². A forest plot was generated for meta-analysis.

Results: Ten studies were included in the meta-analysis. Vibration therapy significantly reduced neuropathy (pooled standardized mean difference [SMD] = -0.79; 95 % CI = -1.51 to -0.07; p = 0.03; I² = 61.40 %) and enhanced the ulcer healing area (pooled SMD = 0.92; 95 % CI = 0.60 to 1.23; p < 0.001; I² = 0.00 %) of patients with hard-to-heal wounds. However, the intervention did not significantly alleviate pain (pooled SMD = -0.51; 95 % CI = -1.38 to 0.36; p = 0.25; I² = 74.15 %). Significant heterogeneity was identified in the pooled result for pain and neuropathy.

Conclusions: Vibration therapy appears to enhance ulcer healing and reduce neuropathy. These results may help researchers and healthcare providers to further develop vibration therapy to address the underlying requirements for bridging the evidence-practice gap in wound care. Future studies should consider the safety and potential adverse outcomes of vibration therapy to ensure its appropriate application for treating hard-to-heal wounds.