POPLITEAL VEIN REFLUX REDUCES THE HEALING OF CHRONIC VENOUS ULCER

Background The relationship between deep and superficial venous reflux and healing of venous ulceration by non-operative compression therapy has not been studied previously. Methods A total of 155 patients with chronic venous ulcers underwent duplex ultrasonography before treatme nt with compression bandaging at a hospital-based venous clinic. Resul ts At 24 weeks, 104 (67 per cent) of ulcers had healed. There was no s ignificant difference in the pattern of either deep or superficial ven ous reflux between healed and non-healed ulcers except with respect to the popliteal vein. In healed ulcers, 39 scans (38 per cent) indicate d competence of the above-knee popliteal vein compared with five (10 p er cent) in the non-healing group (P < 0.001, chi(2) test). Similarly, 43 scans (42 per cent) showed below-knee popliteal vein competence in the healed ulcers compared with only five (10 per cent) performed in legs remaining ulcerated (P < 0.001, chi(2) test). Conclusion Poplitea l vein incompetence is an indicator of poor response to compression th erapy for venous ulceration.