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Critical Reviews™ in Biomedical Engineering

ISSN for PRINT: 0278-940X

Institutional price:	$1677.00
Issues per year:	6

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2005, Volume33

102 pages

Issue price - $266.00

A Review of Technological Approaches to Venous Ulceration

M. Clarke-Moloney
Department of Vascular Surgery, Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, Ireland

G. M. Lyons
Biomedical Electronics Laboratory, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

P. E.. Burke
Department of Vascular Surgery, Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, Ireland

D. O'Keeffe
Biomedical Electronics Laboratory, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

P. A. Grace
Department of Vascular Surgery, Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Limerick, Ireland

ABSTRACT

Leg ulceration is a chronic condition affecting about 1-2% of the adult population. The main causes of leg ulceration are venous hypertension, arterial insufficiency, diabetes, or a combination of these aetiologies (causes) or malignancy. Venous ulcers account for approximately 80% of all leg ulcers and are a result of venous hypertension. The current mainstay of treatment of venous ulcers is the application of graduated compression bandaging to the limb. In spite of the application of the best evidence-based therapy, healing rates for venous leg ulcers remain disappointing, at 50-70% after 12 weeks of treatment, depending on initial size and chronicity of the ulcer. Thus, a large number of ulcers are unhealed by this time, and many patients suffer from long-term leg ulceration, some remaining for years, and those that heal often recur. There is an obvious need to develop new treatments that would improve healing rates. This review provides a complete overview of the anatomy of venous circulation and the physiology pertaining to it, the pathophysiology of venous disease, the pathogenesis of ulceration, and a review of treatments currently employed in healing venous leg ulcers and their supporting evidence. The aim of this article is to encourage a fresh look at this chronic problem and stimulate ideas on how healing rates can be improved.