How to treat leg ulcers
To reduce healing times for patients with leg ulcers, treatment decisions should consider relevant clinical evidence, health professionals’ experience and patient needs. The objective is to implement the right treatment, from the outset, to reduce the healing time. This will help improve the patient’s quality of life and reduce health professionals’ workload and healthcare costs.
International and local guidelines recommend the use of multi-component bandages as a firs-line treatment for venous leg ulcers⁽¹⁾⁽²⁾⁽³⁾⁽⁴⁾. A Cochrane systematic review identified strong evidence that compression therapy improves venous leg ulcers healing rates and that multi-component systems are more effective than single-layer systems⁽⁵⁾.
In addition to reducing venous hypertension, health professionals should aim to provide local treatments for the wound and surrounding skin that promote an optimal healing environment and thus reduce healing times like sucrose-octasulfate impregnated dressing⁽⁶⁾⁽⁷⁾.
DID YOU KNOW? - Compression therapy: indications & contraindications
- Franks PJ, Barker J, Collier M etal. Management of patients with venous leg ulcers: challenges and current bestpractice. J Wound Care. 2016; 25(Suppl. 6):S1-S67
- Scottish Intercollegiate GuidelinesNetwork. Management of chronic venous leg ulcers: a national clinicalguideline, 2010. https://tinyurl.com/y3t3h23 (accessed 17 November 2019)
- Haute Autorité de Santé. Managingvenous leg ulcers (excluding dressings). 2006.https://tinyurl.com/y5f6h6wv (accessed 4 August 2020)
- Wittens C, Davies AH, Bækgaard Net al. Editor’s choice: management of chronic venous disease:clinical practice guidelines of the European Society for Vascular Surgery(ESVS). Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2015; 49(6):678–37.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejvs.2015.02.007
- O’Meara S, Cullum N, Nelson EA,Dumville JC. Compression for venous leg ulcers. Cochrane Database Syst Rev2012; 11: CD000265. https://doi./10.1002/14651858
- White, R., Cowan, T., Glover, D.Supporting evidence-based practice: a clinical review of TLC healing matrix(2nd edition). MA Healthcare Ltd, London, 2015.
- Edmonds M, Lázaro-Martínez JL,Alfayate-García JM, Martini J, Petit JM, Rayman G, Lobmann R, Uccioli L,Sauvadet A, Bohbot S, Kerihuel JC, Piaggesi A. Sucrose octasulfate dressingversus control dressing in patients with neuroischaemic diabetic foot ulcers(Explorer): an international, multicentre, double-blind, randomised, controlledtrial. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2018 Mar;6(3):186-196.