Evidence in venous ulcer management: a new consensus recommendation

All authors were members of the consensus group * Chair of the panel. Full author details in Box 1 The estimated UK prevalence of venous leg ulceration (VLU) is 0.1–0.3%, increasing with age (Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network [SIGN], 2010). The anticipated annual cost of treating a VLU in the UK has been estimated to be between £1,298 and £1,526 based on 2001 prices (Iglesias et al, 2004), and accounts for 30–50% of home nursing visit resources (Lees and Lambert, 1992; van Hecke et al, 2008). Most VLU treatments are carried out in the outpatient setting, with 50% of ulcers healing within ten weeks. However, some VLUs may take up to ten years to heal, with a 70% recurrence rate. Of those patients hospitalised because of poor or non-healing, most demonstrated recurrence of the ulcer within two months (Reeder et al, 2010).

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