Health economic analyses are essential to ensure the efficient and equitable allocation of scarce healthcare resources. Wounds impose a heavy burden. For example, venous leg ulcers account for approximately 1% of the UK’s total healthcare expenditure (Simon et al, 2004) and pressure ulcers a further 4% (Bennett et al, 2004). Yet few research studies examine the cost-effectiveness of dressings for pressure ulcers, venous leg ulcers and surgical wounds. Economic analyses in wound healing, however, are being published with increasing regularity. Against this background, we emphasise the importance of not drawing inferences for clinical practice from headline results alone, as these can be misleading.