Indian Medicine

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Based on findings from a Dutch study, patients with venous leg ulcers need to be encouraged to comply with compression therapy and to be more active.

"In 70 percent of all patients with leg ulcers, ulceration is caused by venous insufficiency," Dr. Maud M. Heinen and colleagues write in the Archives of Dermatology. "Physical activity and adherence to compression therapy are two vital factors in decreasing wound healing time and preventing wound recurrence."

Heinen, of Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center and associates, recruited 150 patients with leg ulcers to take part in a study to assess their physical activity, amount of walking, and adherence to compression therapy. The participants wore an accelerometer for a week and were then interviewed in the outpatient clinic.

Overall, the patients' level of moderately strenuous activity was low compared with that of the general Dutch population and 35 percent of the patients "did not have a 10-minute walk even once a week," the investigators found.

Furthermore, exercises for the lower legs were performed by only 35 percent of patients and only 39 percent fully complied with compression therapy.

"Patients should be encouraged to enhance physical activity that aims to activate the calf muscle pump," Heinen's team points out. Patients should also be urged to comply better with compression bandage or stocking treatments.

Factors associated with better patient compliance and strategies to enhance adherence and physical activity levels should be further explored, the researchers note.

SOURCE: Archives of Dermatology, October 2007.

Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited.