Venous leg ulcer management

Abstract

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2016) define a leg ulcer as a loss of skin on the foot or the leg (below the knee), which has not healed within 2 weeks and is considered chronic if not healed within 4 weeks. The cause of venous leg ulcers is prolonged venous hypertension consequential of an insufficient calf muscle pump and/or chronic venous insufficiency. Symptoms of venous leg ulceration include swelling, pain and itching, which is sometimes accompanied by foul-smelling discharge and hardening of the skin around the skin-loss (NHS Choices, 2016).