The limerick leg-ulcer project: Early results

Abstract

Nurse led clinics in joint hospital and community settings are now being advocated as the most effective and economic way of dealing with leg ulcers. However, little information exists on the profile and outcome of patients with venous ulcers treated either in the community or in the hospital setting. Over a 2 yr period we assessed 134 patients with leg ulcers of whom 122 were deemed suitable for compression bandaging therapy. Thirty-four patients (28 per cent) were treated by the newly developed community service and 88 (72 per cent) were treated at the hospital clinic. Our overall healing rate for venous ulcers was 50 per cent @ 40 weeks. This probably reflects the long duration (48 per cent >2 yr) and large size (0.5–600 cm²) of ulcer prior to treatment. There were no differences in outcome between hospital (50 per cent @ 40 weeks) and community (35 per cent @ 40 weeks) based treatment (p>0.05). We conclude that most venous ulcers can be effectively treated in the community and resources should be provided to achieve this goal.