It was done a literature search aiming to sumarize earlier conducted researches and in order to obtain information on the use of medicinal plants in wound healing process. The descriptors used were as follows: Medicinal Plants and Wound Healing and their equivalents in English and Spanish with the Boolean operator "AND" in three electronic databases (PubMed, LILACS and COCHRANE). Fifty seven articles were chosen to compose the review. The findings from a total of fifty two medicinal plants and one herbal compound that were experimentally or clinically studied in respect to their effects in wound healing process indicate that the majority of them (eighty eight point five per cent) showed efficacy. Thus, it can be seen that the use of medicinal plants is an important alternative in wounds treatment that becomes part of Brazilian health care, suggesting further studies of clinical evidence, costs and benefits and constantly updating on produced publications.
plant extracts; phytotherapy; public health; wound healing
