Chronic leg ulcers

Abstract

The most commonly encountered chronic wounds in clinical practice in the UK are venous leg ulcers (NHS Choices, 2012). Leg ulcers can be defined as loss of skin below the knee on the leg or foot, which takes more than 2 weeks to heal (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), 2016). Leg ulcers affect 1 in 500 people in the UK and cost the NHS an estimated £400 million per year; this cost has serious consequences for an already limited NHS budget (NHS England, 2014). Therefore, promotion of self-care, an optimum healing environment and prevention of re-occurrence is a significant
issue for clinicians (Wounds UK, 2016).