Vein surgery with or without skin grafting versus conservative treatment for leg ulcers. A randomized prospective study

Abstract

In order for us to evaluate the efficiency of perforator vein surgery and skin grafting in leg ulcer patients, 47 patients were randomized into 3 treatment groups (group A: surgery for incompetent perforators, group B: surgery for incompetent perforators and ulcer excision followed by grafting, group C: control group). All the patients were treated with a compression bandage. When cellulitis was observed, a systemic antibiotic was given; eczema was treated with a steroid ointment. Fourty patients were evaluated regularly during one year after entry. There were no differences between the 3 treatment groups considering base-line characteristics, median ulcer size at entry and after one year. According to a review of the initial phlebograms, the occurrence of post-thrombotic changes in the deep veins were recorded in the majority of the legs. Our results suggest that ligation of incompetent perforators and skin grafting, as used in the present study, may not offer an additional advantage for venous ulcer patients with insufficiency of the deep veins when compared to conservative treatment. However, the removal of insufficient superficial veins was not studied.