In its most advanced form, vein disease may lead to failure to heal simple wounds on the lower legs or ankles. These wounds can begin as innocent small lesions from small trauma that most people would not think twice about. However, in the presence of impaired venous return the increased pressure in the lower leg from the superficial reflux changes the characteristics of the skin. This leads to abnormal perfusion of blood, nutrients, and potentially medications like prescribed antibiotics through the wound. With time, the wound can grow and become quite painful, infected, and unsightly.
Wound Care is a multi-modality specialty, and many parts of a puzzle need to fit into place. A wound care specialist needs to be actively looking at the wound and debriding unhealthy tissues, and applying local treatments at the wound to help the skin heal. Often an infectious disease doctor needs to prescribe appropriate antibiotics. Finally, one needs to make sure the circulation status is up to par. We frequently will see a patient referred from a wound center with a wound for months, that will quickly heal up once we begin treatment for their vein disease.
SPCVA works closely with many wound care centers and specialists to help these potentially very ill patients, and have had incredible success.
