O uso da aloe vera na prevenção e tratamento de feridas: revisão da literatura

Abstract

Aloe vera (L) Burm is a plant that has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years, especially for wound healing. The present study aims to verify in the literature the available evidence regarding the use of Aloe vera in the treatment of wounds and to describe the types of injuries in which the use of Aloe vera is recommended. This study is a narrative review of the literature, carried out through a free search for specialized scientific articles, in which no time frame was established and scientific articles with methodological design and human intervention were prioritized. The search for scientific studies resulted in twenty-four findings that address the use of Aloe vera in wounds of different etiologies in clinical trials and systematic reviews. Studies have been found recommending the use of Aloe vera in burns, surgical wounds, graft donor area, pressure injury, anal fissure, breast fissure, ischemic wounds, chronic wounds and dermatitis. Systematic review studies that evaluated the healing potential of the plant emphasize that some of the clinical trials analyzed showed biases that make it impossible to affirm whether the healing effect for injuries of various etiologies in acute and chronic phases, requiring that studies with a better design be carried out in order to seek such an outcome of using Aloe vera. It is believed that the knowledge condensed in this study supports the synthesis of knowledge already built on the theme. It is also emphasized that health professionals and the scientific community must be attentive and concerned with the quality and viability of scientific evidence and the safety of the use of plants and herbal medicines in the treatment of wounds.