Diagnosis and management of venous leg ulcers

### What you need to know Venous leg ulcers are the most common type of leg ulcer, with an estimated prevalence of 0.1 and 0.3% in the UK.1 The lifetime risk of developing a venous leg ulcer is 1%.23 A recent retrospective cohort study using THIN (The Health Improvement Network) data reported that in the UK 53% of all venous leg ulcers healed within 12 months, with a mean healing time of three months.4 Service provision in the UK for venous leg ulcers can be poor, with around half of patients receiving inadequate care, minimal specialist involvement, and lack of evidence-based treatment according to GP records.45 Similar significant evidence-practice gap has been reported around the world including in several developed countries.678 This clinical update, aimed at non-specialists, provides information on the diagnosis and management of venous leg ulcers, and offers multidisciplinary team support. ### Sources and selection criteria We searched PubMed using the terms “venous ulcer” and “compression therapy,” giving particular attention to meta-analyses and systematic reviews, including those from the Cochrane database, and guidelines from major international and national organisations and societies with an interest in venous ulcers. We also looked for publications in nursing journals to explore the up-to-date holistic approach in the diagnosis and management of venous …