Quality of life of patients suffering from leg ulcers after vein surgery

Aim: To determine whether surgical treatment of therapy-resistant venous/mixed leg ulcers, combined with many concomitant risk factors, is effective in elderly patients by measuring Quality of Life (QoL). Patients, methods: Pre- and post-surgical data of 120 patients (169 legs) comprises of clinical characteristics and QoL-tools using the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the subjective grade of health and others. Results: The outcome of the NHP, VAS and subjective grade of health revealed statistically significant differences between the pre- and post-surgical situation. The biggest limitations in QoL due to therapy-resistant venous/mixed leg ulcers are with respect to pain. A high level of patient satisfaction with surgery is shown with of 95% not regretting their operation. Conclusion: Concerning the patient population of this study, treating venous/mixed leg ulcers with surgery seems to be the correct course of action, raising their QoL significantly.