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Management of Intractable venous ulceration remains an unrewarding task which is increasingly
delegated to the realm of the vascular surgeon. The purpose of this pilot study was
to assess the ulcer-healing effects of the newest form of biostimulation—the low power
laser. Twelve patients with chronic venous ulcers unresponsive to conservative measures
were treated with infrared laser irradiation for twelve weeks. Two ulcers healed completely
and there was a 27% (p < 0.01) reduction in size of the remaining ulcers. Treatment
resulted in a 44% (p < 0.01) increase in ulcer floor area occupied by healthy granulation
tissue. The most dramatic effect of laser treatment was the reduction in ulcer pain,
from 7.5 to 3.5 (linear analogue scale) (p < 0.001). Laser Irradiation had no effect
on TcPO2), number of skin capillaries or pericapillary fibrin deposition in the lipodermatosclerotic
area around the ulcer. The results of this pilot study are encouraging and a carefully
controlled randomized study is indicated to compare low power laser Irradiation to
conventional treatment in the management of venous ulcers.
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Article Info
Footnotes
Reprint requests: Professor D. G. Shanik, Department of Vascular Surgery, St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland.
Identification
Copyright
© 1990 Annals of Vascular Surgery, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
