Background: Various guidelines exist worldwide for the diagnosis and management of venous leg ulcers; however, these are difficult to implement resulting in disparate treatment of patients globally.
Method: An online, 26-question survey was designed to evaluate the current global management of venous leg ulceration and was emailed globally to approximately 15,000 participants (November 2017-February 2018).
Results: Overall, 799 responses were received from 86 countries, with a 5% response rate. The respondent physicians saw a median of 10 (interquartile range 5-20) patients per month, with a median time to referral from primary to secondary care of six weeks. Of the respondents, 61% arranged an ankle brachial pressure index on first visit and 84% performed a venous duplex, with 95% prescribing compression for those in whom it was not contraindicated. Fifty-nine percent performed endovenous intervention or surgery prior to ulcer healing.
Conclusions: The survey showed a diversity of treatment pathways. The need to develop a robust, clear pathway for patients with leg ulceration is clearly required.
Keywords: Venous ulceration; chronic venous insufficiency; compression bandaging; endovenous treatment; leg ulcers.