Early term results of venous leg ulcer treatment in chronic venous disease: a Latam perspective

BACKGROUND: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) prevalence has increased given the rise in life expectancy, obesity, and comorbidities. Up to 0.2-1% of patients with CVI will present venous ulcers (VU). Currently, the gold standard for VU management is compression therapy. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a specialized wound care institution treatment for chronic VU healing outcomes. METHODS: All patients >18 years old with a chronic VU who had completed institutional wound care program of at a single center specialized wound care institution program institution database between 2019 and 2020 were included. Outcomes for ulcer size, healing time, overall healing and comorbidity were included. Wilcoxon scale and Spearman correlation were used to evaluate the relationship between ulcer characteristics and their relationship with the institutional scale. RESULTS: In total, 400 patients were included with a mean age of 64.32 years (95% CI 20-95) and female majority (64%). Mean healing time was 3.32 months, with an average of seven visits for wound healing, and statistically significant difference between initial and final wound size (-25.6 cm(2), P<0.001) and depth (0.10 cm, P<0.001). Healing was achieved in 100% of the patients and a higher wound complexity classification was associated with a greater improvement. CONCLUSIONS: A specialized wound care institution treatment for VU demonstrated shorter VU healing time. Higher wound complexity showed superior outcomes after wound program completion. The institutional scale is an adequate tool for the characterization of a VU when correlated with the patient's clinical condition.