[Evidence of compression therapy with special consideration of medical adaptive compression systems]

[Wounds caused by vasculitis-Current classification, diagnostics and treatment]

Wounds of the skin can have very different causes. Especially in clinically atypical or non-healing wounds, the very heterogeneous group of vasculitides is of particularly important differential diagnostic significance. Nowadays, the classification of vasculitis is based on the affected vessels according to the Chapel Hill consensus conference. Thus, potentially any part of the vascular system can be affected. It becomes clear that there is often a risk of systemic diseases with high interdisciplinary relevance.Clinically, the usually very painful wounds in cutaneous vasculitis develop from necrosis and are typically surrounded by an erythematous-livid rim in the florid phase. In addition to clinical inspection, the histopathological examination of biopsies is of particular importance in the usually extensive diagnostic work-up.Therapeutically, adequate wound treatment should always be performed with a focus on pain prevention and infection prophylaxis. In the case of edema, compression therapy also supports wound healing. In addition, it is often necessary to initiate systemic treatment with immunosuppressive or immunomodulating drugs. Whenever possible, causally relevant factors and comorbidities should be diagnosed early and avoided or treated. Otherwise, there is a risk of severe or even fatal disease progression.

[Diagnosis of leg edema]

Edema of the lower extremities is always associated with a pathological condition that should be treated, especially in patients with chronic wounds. Because the underlying causes of edema can vary greatly and sometimes be complex, clinical and, if necessary, various diagnostic tests should also be performed. Often, a suspected clinical diagnosis can already be made after clinical inspection with testing of Stemmer's and Godet's signs. Sonographic examination should then be performed as the next diagnostic test. Although measurement techniques such as water plethysmography are currently considered gold standard for volume measurements, they are very complex and prone to error, so that they are rarely used in clinical routine today. In summary, it is recommended to perform a clinical examination, if possible in combination with sonography, for edema diagnosis. Especially at the beginning of the decongestion phase, regular circumferential measurements should be performed and documented. This documentation is of high relevance for evaluation of therapeutic success.

[Classification and nomenclature of current materials for compression therapy]

Compression therapy has been an essential part of conservative therapy for people with chronic wounds and edema of the lower extremities for hundreds of years. The initiated therapy can be divided into the decongestion phase, maintenance phase, and prevention. The choice of the respective compression materials is based, among other factors, on these phases, the clinical stage and symptoms, the needs of the affected person and their physical abilities. Today, a wide range of different materials and methods are available for compression therapy. Thus, it is increasingly difficult to keep an overview of these treatment options, especially since the nomenclature used by the manufacturers is often inconsistent. Thus, the materials and methods for compression therapy currently available in German-speaking countries and their clinical indications are described in this review article. In addition, a uniform nomenclature is proposed, on the basis of which an appropriate exchange between all those involved in the care of people with compression therapy is guaranteed.

[Wound treatment without curative intention: position paper of the Initiative Chronische Wunden (ICW) e. V.]

Today, patients with chronic wounds are treated in many different fields of medicine. Despite this great interdisciplinary and interprofessional importance, there is still a lack of uniformly accepted definitions and classifications. Therefore, a group of experts from the professional society Initiative Chronische Wunden (ICW) e. V. translated and adapted the classification of chronic wounds into healable, maintenance and nonhealable wounds on the basis of the internationally published literature into German. This classification results in the aim of curative, limited respectively non-curative or palliative wound care, which are very important for everyday clinical practice. It thus becomes clear that complete wound closure is not always the central intention of wound treatment. For many patients with chronic wounds, other aspects such as the best possible quality of life and the promotion of health-related self-management as well as the avoidance of complications are important for treatment concepts. These therapy intentions should be differentiated and individually discussed with patients in order to facilitate shared decision making.

In-vivo-Druckmessungen zum Vergleich medizinischer adaptiver Kompressionssysteme mit maßangefertigter Flachstrick-Kompressionsversorgung

Hintergrund Die in der Erhaltungsphase der komplexen physikalischen Entstauungstherapie notwendige Kompressionstherapie kann anstelle von Flachstrick-Kompressionsstrümpfen (FS) auch mit vom Patienten selbst anzulegenden Bandagen erfolgen, den sogenannten medizinischen adaptiven Kompressionssystemen (MAK).

Methoden MAK und FS wurden mittels In-vivo-Druckmessungen unter der von Probanden selbst angelegten Kompression direkt verglichen. Dazu wurden Drücke über Picopress-Messgeräte und Sensoren (Microlab Elettronica, Italien) an n = 30 Patienten mit beidseitigen, symmetrischen, lymphostatischen Ödemen der Unterschenkel erfasst. FS und MAK wurden seitenrandomisiert zugewiesen. Nach Standardeinweisung und initialen Druckmessungen beider Systeme wurden MAK im Zeitverlauf von 2 und 4 h Tragedauer erneut gemessen. Static-Stiffness-Index (SSI) sowie Druckgradienten der Messhöhen B1-C wurden berechnet.

Ergebnisse MAK zeigen Ruhedruckwerte und SSI im therapeutischen Bereich, die signifikant höher ausfallen als bei FS (p < 0,01 bzw. p < 0,001). MAK erreichen signifikant höhere maximale Arbeitsdrücke (p < 0,001). Die Ruhedruckwerte von MAK zeigen nach 2 und 4 h, ohne Nachjustieren, keinen relevanten Druckabfall. Die mittleren Druckgradienten, bezogen auf die Messhöhen B1-C, unterscheiden sich nicht signifikant zwischen den Methoden.

Diskussion Die mit MAK erreichten Druckparameter untermauern deren therapeutische Effektivität. Die Anwendung von MAK ist auch ohne Nachjustieren druckstabil. Die Anwendung (Selbstanlage) kann als therapeutisch wirksam eingestuft werden. Eine gute Einweisung der Patienten ist jedoch bedeutsam.

[Modern management of chronic wounds]

The treatment of patients with chronic wounds is a multiprofessional challenge. Based on a comprehensive diagnosis and integrated into a causal treatment concept, patients should always be treated with a modern wound therapy. This wound therapy should try to take into account many different factors such as the wound healing phases, infection status, exudate levels, but also individual patient wishes. Especially in the case of chronic wounds of the lower extremities and edema, compression therapy is also very important for therapy and recurrence prophylaxis. In addition, the pain, which is usually very distressing, should be recorded and adequately treated or avoided. Modern moist wound therapy can then support the healing of patients with chronic wounds, reduce complications and thus improve their quality of life.

[Conservative treatment of varicose veins]

The treatment of varicose veins is supposed to eliminate congestive symptoms and edema, heal skin complications and prevent complications. Surgical procedures, endovenous thermal procedures, endovenous chemical procedures and conservative measures are used for treatment. Often the invasive and conservative procedures are combined. A precise examination of the varicose veins is required for therapy planning; duplex sonography is the gold standard. Conservative therapy focuses on compression therapy with compression bandages and with compression stockings. Medical adaptive compression systems are also used in the decongestion phase. Extract from red vine leafs, extract from horse chestnut seed and oxerutin are available for oral drug therapy. Conservative therapy is especially indicated when treatment of symptomatic varicose veins is not possible or when symptomatic venous disease persists even after invasive therapy.

[Surgical treatment for chronic leg ulcer]

Leg ulcers pose a therapeutic challenge due to a chronic healing process. Conservative wound dressings are initially the treatment of choice, but their effectiveness in therapy-refractory wounds is limited. In these cases, multiple mechanical debridement in combination with split-thickness skin grafts (STSG) are a simple and safe treatment option for ulcer coverage. Additional therapy with negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) improves the surgical outcome by promoting ulcer granulation, continuous elimination of exsudate and blood as well as increased contact pressure on the skin graft. After transplantation, the split skin graft requires daily wound dressings until it has fully healed after approximately 3 weeks.