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Leg ulcers are skin lesions with full-thickness loss of epidermis and dermis on the lower extremities. Among a wide variety of etiologies for chronic leg ulcers, four common types are venous stasis ulcers, arterial ulcers, diabetic neuropathic ulcers, and pressure ulcers. By definition, chronic leg ulcers last greater than 6 weeks. Acute ulcers such as traumatic wounds undergo normal healing in healthy patients without the need for further treatment. As a result, only chronic leg ulcers will be discussed here.
Patients with venous leg ulcers commonly complain of swelling and aching of the legs that is worse at the end of the day and improves with leg elevation. The medial lower leg is the most common site. The borders of venous ulcers are typically saucer-shaped, initially with a shallow wound base. The surrounding skin often exhibits pitting edema, induration, hemosiderosis, varicosities, lipodermatosclerosis, atrophie blanche, and/or stasis dermatitis read more