The use of oral and enteral tube-fed arginine supplementation in pressure injury care: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Only eight trials were eligible, and the total sample was 196 adults, so the pooled estimate is based on a small evidence base. The included trials were heterogeneous (I2 72.5%), so the average effect may not apply to any single setting. Arginine doses varied from 2.5 to 18 g/day and intervention length varied from 2 to 12 weeks, so the review does not establish one dose or duration. Several studies were excluded because they lacked a control group, did not report mean pressure injury scores, or used different scales before and after treatment. The review did not evaluate the effect of arginine alone, so the pooled result reflects arginine-containing nutritional supplements. The authors state the findings cannot be generalized to all patients with pressure ulcers because of the small sample size and intervention length.

The corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Do not conclude that arginine by itself healed pressure injuries or that a specific dose should be used. The trials used arginine-containing oral or tube-fed nutritional supplements, and the paper states the effect of arginine alone was not evaluated. The pooled result came from only eight small trials with 196 adults, high heterogeneity, and doses from 2.5 to 18 g/day, and the authors state the findings cannot be generalized to all pressure ulcer patients.