A multicentre randomised controlled trial evaluated transcutaneous gaseous CO₂ therapy as an addition to standard care in 115 patients with non-healing diabetic foot ulcers.
After 4 weeks, healing was reported in 64.5% of ulcers in the CO₂ therapy group, compared with 7.7% in the standard-care-only group.
Ulcer area reduction was also greater in the intervention group, with a median reduction of 100% versus 40% in the control group (p ≤ 0.001).
CO₂ therapy was associated with substantially higher odds of ulcer healing (OR 35.4; 95% CI 6.68–187.53; p < 0.001), and this association remained significant in multivariate analysis. Larger baseline ulcer area was associated with lower odds of healing.
Overall, these findings support the potential role of transcutaneous CO₂ therapy as a complementary treatment alongside standard of care for non-healing diabetic foot ulcers.
Reference
Frangež I, Potkonjak M, Veliu S, et al. Transcutaneous Carbon Dioxide Therapy Significantly Accelerates Diabetic Foot Ulcer Healing: A Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial. Biomedicines. 2026;14(2):422. Published 2026 Feb 13.Activate to view larger image,
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