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Background: The purpose of this prospective study was to investigate and compare the recurrence rate of venous ulcers treated by superficial surgery or compression bandaging. Methods: Patients received treatment for ulcers between May 1994 and July 1997. All legs in the study had an ankle: brachial pressure index above 0·8. The superficial surgery group consisted of 91 legs with superficial venous incompetence and normal deep veins which healed after superficial surgery. This group did not receive postoperative compression bandaging or hosiery. The community compression bandaging group consisted of 152 legs that healed during the recruitment period. A recurrent ulcer was defined as a further episode of venous ulceration in a previously healed leg. Patient follow‐up was by surgeons, district nurses' telephone call and/or letter. Recurrence rates were calculated by life‐table analysis (Kaplan–Meier). Patients who died or were lost to follow‐up were censored to their last visit. Results: The recurrence rate in the superficial surgery group at 1 and 2 years was 3 and 6 per cent respectively, compared with 26 and 33 per cent respectively in the compression bandaging group. The differences between the superficial surgery and compression bandaging groups were statistically significant (P = 0·00001, log rank test). Conclusion: Ulcer healing after superficial surgery is sustained in the absence of postoperative compression. Conversely, the ulcer recurrence rate after compression bandaging is very high, probably because the underlying venous abnormality has not been corrected. The follow‐up of this study needs to be continued to 5 years, but the data so far suggest that a prospective randomized study comparing superficial surgery with compression bandaging is required. © 2000 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd

Background: The purpose of the study was to investigate the aetiology of lower limb ulceration. Methods: The aetiology of lower limb ulceration was reviewed in 555 patients with 689 ulcerated limbs referred to a single‐visit leg ulcer clinic. Results: The mean age of the patients was 70 (range 27–95) years and 335 (60 per cent) were women. The aetiology of the ulceration in 689 limbs was venous in 496 (72 per cent), arterial in 14 (2 per cent), mixed venous and arterial in 101 (15 per cent), with other causes in 78 (11 per cent). Of the 496 venous ulcers, 261 (53 per cent) had isolated superficial reflux, 233 (47 per cent) had deep venous reflux, of which 165 (71 per cent) had full‐length and 68 (29 per cent) segmental reflux, and two patients had isolated perforator reflux. Deep venous obstruction was present in 16 limbs (3 per cent) with venous ulcers and 14 of these demonstrated continuous flow in the long saphenous vein (LSV). Of the 261 ulcerated legs with isolated superficial reflux, 197 (75 per cent) had LSV reflux only, 22 (8 per cent) had short saphenous vein (SSV) reflux only and 41 (16 per cent) had combined LSV and SSV reflux. Of those with LSV reflux, 65 per cent had a medial malleolar ulcer and 20 per cent had a lateral malleolar lesion. Of those with SSV reflux, 62 per cent had a lateral malleolar ulcer and 38 per cent had a medial malleolar ulcer. Conclusion: Half of the ulcerated legs have superficial venous reflux; these combined with the superficial and segmental deep venous reflux group comprise the 65 per cent of patients who may benefit from superficial venous surgery. Continuous flow in the LSV should alert the clinician to deep venous obstruction, in which circumstance compression therapy should be used with extreme caution. Duplex is central to the investigation of the ulcerated leg. © 2000 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd

BACKGROUND: Recent colour duplex studies of patients presenting with venous ulceration in the community have shown that between 55 and 60 per cent have isolated superficial venous insufficiency. Previous studies of the role of superficial surgery in the treatment of venous ulceration have applied postoperative compression bandaging and therefore it has not been possible to determine the role of superficial surgery in promoting ulcer healing. The purpose of this prospective study was, therefore, to examine the healing rate after superficial surgery in patients with isolated superficial venous incompetence and venous ulceration who did not undergo postoperative compression bandaging. METHODS: Patients with isolated superficial venous incompetence, as demonstrated by colour duplex scanning and an ankle : brachial pressure index greater than 0.8, underwent saphenofemoral or saphenopopliteal disconnection under local anaesthesia, or a high tie and strip under general anaesthesia. Compression bandaging was not applied after operation. Patients were followed regularly after surgery and the endpoint was ulcer healing. RESULTS: Between May 1994 and July 1997, 122 legs with venous ulceration and isolated superficial venous incompetence underwent superficial surgery. Ninety-three (76 per cent) had long saphenous incompetence alone, 13 (11 per cent) had short saphenous incompetence alone and 16 (13 per cent) had combined long and short saphenous incompetence. The median (range) patient age was 72 (28-94) years and the median duration of ulceration was 32 weeks (range 2 weeks to 32 years). The median (range) ulcer area was 9 (1-500) cm2. Ninety patients (74 per cent) had a local anaesthetic procedure while 32 (26 per cent) had general anaesthesia. Of patients who had long saphenous surgery, 69 had high ligation only and 24 had high ligation and strip. The healing rate by life-table analysis was 58 per cent at 6 months, 73 per cent at 1 year and 82 per cent at 18 months. Clinical review and colour duplex examination of patients with ulcers that had failed to heal (n = 18) showed that two had recurrent superficial to deep connections; the remainder had fixed ankle joints or severe osteoarthritis of the hip and knee. CONCLUSION: Superficial venous surgery in patients with isolated superficial venous incompetence and venous ulceration can achieve a very high healing rate in the absence of postoperative compression.