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Leg ulcer - venous - Management
How should I dress a venous leg ulcer?
- Dressings and compression therapy should be applied by a healthcare professional trained in venous ulcer management.
- Wound dressing: apply a low-adherent dressing and replace weekly:
- If the wound has a heavy exudate, more frequent bandage changes may be required.
- Alternative dressings may be considered to help with pain (hydrocolloid), heavy exudate (alginate), or slough (hydrogels).
- Compression therapy: measure the person's ankle circumference and apply below-knee, graduated multi-layer high compression bandaging and replace weekly:
- For people who are immobile, 4-layer or 3-layer bandaging is more suitable.
- For people who are mobile, 2-layer bandaging is more practical.
- Do not use compression therapy if Doppler studies show an ankle brachial pressure index of 0.8 or less, or there is active phlebitis, deep vein thrombosis, or cellulitis.
- Do not routinely use intermittent pneumatic compression, either as a replacement for, or an adjunct to, compression bandaging.
In depth
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