Safety and efficacy of larval therapy on treating leg ulcers: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION: Leg ulcers (LUs) not only seriously affect life and work of patients, but also bring huge economic burden to the society. As a potential underused biological debridement, larval therapy provides help for the treatment of LUs. The purpose of our research is to assess whether patients with LUs can benefit from larval therapy. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The following electronic databases will be searched: PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, Wanfang Database and Chinese Biological Medicine. Randomised controlled trials are eligible for inclusion. There will be no restrictions with respect to language and search date is up to June 2020. Primary outcomes investigated are complete healing rate after treatment, time to ulcer healing, reduction of wound surface area and adverse events. Risk ratios will be used for categorical data; weighted mean difference will be used for measurement data. Subgroup analysis and sensitivity analysis will be considered if heterogeneity exists. The results of data synthesis will be performed by narrative summary and quantitative analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic review does not require the approval of the ethics committee because individual data on patients are not collected. The results of the study will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020176953.