Abstract

GARCIA-FERNANDEZ, Francisco Pedro; PANCORBO-HIDALGO, Pedro Luis  and  VERDU-SORIANO, José. Effectiveness of No Sting Barrier Film for preventing skin damage: A systematic review. Gerokomos [online]. 2009, vol.20, n.1, pp.29-40. ISSN 1134-928X.

Aim: To get the available evidences about the product No Sting Barrier Film (NSBF) (Cavilon^TM) clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness for protecting skin against irritating agents. Methods: Literature systematic review on the use of NSBF. The main bibliographic databases were searched without date or language limits. Also references lists and congress abstracts were searched. Inclusion criteria: studies with a prospective and comparative design (randomized or no) and/or costs evaluation studies. Each paper was independently assessed by two reviewers; in case of disagreement a third reviewer decided. For methodological assessment of the studies, the clinical trial tool of the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) was used. Also, for each paper included in the review we made an evaluation of the evidence quality by using the system proposed by the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation Working Group (GRADE). As a measure of the effect size we used the Relative Risk with the 95% Confidence Interval. Meta-analysis was not performed because high clinical heterogeneity between studies was detected. Results: Thirty studies on NSBF use have been identified, but 19 have not been included in this review by several reasons (14 were not comparative studies; 3 by poor methodological quality and 2 by very low quality of evidence): Results can be grouping into 4 groups, according to the type of skin damage: skin irritation prevention (1 study); radiodermitis (2); perilesional skin in venous ulcers (4) and incontinence ulcers (4). These studies compare NSBF with barrier creams, petrolatum, glycerol or moisturizing creams. Additionally 4 cost-effectiveness studies have been selected. These studies found a reduction in the cost per case when using NSBF instead of others skin care products. Conclusions: The use of NSBF reduces significantly the erythema extent in the edges of exudative venous ulcers (evidence: high), with an overall clinical effectiveness similar to zinc oxide creams (moderate). NSBF is easier to apply and remove than zinc oxide creams (moderate). In patients with incontinence ulcers, the use of NSBF reduces the extent of dermatitis better than usuallyused moisturizing creams (NNT= 5) (moderate) and have equal effectiveness in dermatitis prevention as zinc oxide creams or petrolatum (high), but with better effect in decreasing redness and denudation areas (high). In radiotherapy treated patients, the NSBF reduce both the area and severity of radiodermitis (moderate). The use of NSBF have a cost per case, including nursing time costs, significantly lower than the use of zinc oxide creams (high).

Keywords : Barrier films; NSBF; incontinence ulcer; perilesional skin; dermatitis; radiodermitis; systematic review.

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