Comorbidities as prognostic factors in the healing of venous ulcers

Abstract

Background: The problem of venous ulcers and chronic venous insufficiency is quite common in dermatological clinics. Every day, we face challenges regarding treatment and prognosis. As the patients are more often over fifty years of age, with more comorbidities, and at the very beginning of treatment, we already have an idea of how the entire process of epithelization of the ulcers may take place. Materials and Methods: A total of 105 patients with chronic venous insufficiency and venous ulcers were included in the study. Each was followed for more than twelve weeks. Patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and thrombophlebitis were analyzed separately. Results: Patients with an ulcer closure time of twelve weeks and longer had a high blood pressure more often. Diabetics with venous ulcers on the lower extremities more often had delayed ulcer healing. A statistically significant difference was confirmed in the distribution of the patients with and without thrombophlebitis. Conclusion: The existence of comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and thrombosis, may affect the healing process of venous ulcers, yet thrombosis proved to be the most important factor. Key words: Venous Ulcers; Diabetes Mellitus; Thrombosis; Hypertension

Chronic leg ulcers in Senegal: Epidemiological and etiological study on 154 cases

“…In the Maghreb and in most series from sub-Saharan Africa, the predominance of vascular causes was clearly established [4,8,11,13,14], except in Mali, where CLUs were mainly due to infectious origin (67.8%) and dominated by necrotizing bacterial dermohypodermatitis. They were also the main infectious causes in our series yet corresponded to the second etiological group [9].…”

“…Chronic leg ulcer (CLU) is a major concern for dermatologists because of its frequency and difficulty in management [1,2]. In Europe, it affects older women, in contrast to younger patients in Africa, who are predominantly male [2][3][4].…”

“…In addition to causing a considerable deterioration of the quality of life, treatment is expensive, estimated on average at 10,000 EUR per person per year in direct and indirect costs [5]. Its causes are multiple and dominated by venous insufficiency in the European population and recently in Africa [1][2][3][4][5]. In the context of a change in the etiological profile of CLUs in this area [2][3][4], we considered it appropriate to pursue the aim of determining the new epidemiological and etiological profiles of CLU in Senegal.…”

“…Its causes are multiple and dominated by venous insufficiency in the European population and recently in Africa [1][2][3][4][5]. In the context of a change in the etiological profile of CLUs in this area [2][3][4], we considered it appropriate to pursue the aim of determining the new epidemiological and etiological profiles of CLU in Senegal.…”