Paper
Saturday, 22 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Strategies for Care of the Aging
Identifying Optimal Levels of Compression to Promote Healing in Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers
Helen Edwards, PhD1, Mary Courtney, PhD1, Peter O'Shea, PhD2, Mark Pearcy, PhD2, and Kathleen Finlayson, BN, MNsg1. (1) School of Nursing, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, (2) School of Engineering Systems, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Learning Objective #1: understand the impact of compression therapy on healing for chronic venous leg ulcers.
Learning Objective #2: understand the challenge of treatment decisions for clients with chronic venous leg ulcers.
Purpose:
The aim of this study is to identify the relationships between progress in wound healing, levels of compression and types of compression systems for clients with chronic leg ulcers. Chronic leg ulcers occur in approximately 3% of those aged over 60 years, with incidence increasing with age. Although multilayered compression bandaging systems are known to be effective in promoting healing in venous leg ulcers, the optimal type, amount of pressure and length of time necessary to obtain best healing outcomes are unknown. The use of these compression systems involve many costs, including long term purchase of expensive bandages, discomfort and inconvenience associated with wearing bulky pressure bandages and the significant amounts of time, specialised training and staff needed to apply the systems. Answers to these questions are thus of significant importance to both health care professionals and sufferers of chronic leg ulcers.
Methods:
This paper reports results from a sample of 90 participants with chronic venous leg ulcers recruited in South-East Queensland, Australia. Measures on progress in wound healing, dressings and type and level of compression were collected every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. Data were also collected on general health, venous medical history and ulcer history at baseline. Chi square analysis and analysis of variance was undertaken to analyse differences in measures of healing between groups receiving less than 25mmHg, those receiving between 25 – 35mmHg and those receiving over 35mmHg compression at the ankle.
Results and Conclusion:                                                                                                                        
Significant differences in measures of healing were found between the group receiving less than 25mmHg and the two groups receiving over 25mmHg, but no significant difference was found between the moderately high and high compression groups. These results have significant clinical implications and provide information to guide clinicians caring for clients with chronic leg ulcers in their treatment decisions.  

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