Topical treatment for controlling malignant wound odour

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

BackgroundThe prevalence of malignant wounds (MWs) is currently unknown.However, it is estimated that around 5%-10% of breast cancer cases, sarcomas and melanomas result in MWs. AimThis study aimed to identify and analyse the scientific evidence on the use of topical treatments for controlling odour from MWs. MethodsWe used a PRISMA checklist to systematically review articles in the following databases: PubMed, ProQuest, Science Direct, CINAHL, Wiley, Springer, CANCERLIT and Google Scholar, published from 2011 to 2018.We structured the research questions with the use of PICO elements.Although 111 articles were obtained from the search, only eight articles met the inclusion criteria.We analysed these articles with the aid of a CASP checklist and classified them based on the levels of evidence and recommendation grade. ResultsAmong the eight shortlisted articles, four were intervention studies (three RCTs and one non-controlled study), three were case studies and one was a cohort study.The MWs in these articles were predominantly located on the breast, head/neck, cervix, vulva/ vagina, groin, spine, lower limbs, penis and rectum/ anus.Wound odour was measured using the verbal rating scale (VRS).Six products were used as topical therapies to manage wound odour: Polyhexamethylene biguanide, metronidazole, green tea, Manuka honey, nanocrystalline silver nanoparticles and charcoal dressing.These were associated with