Leg Wounds & Venous Disease

By Dr. Samuel P. Martin, MD, FACS, Medical Director & Wound Care Specialist

Venous ulcers require expertise in the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term
care. At Vascular Vein Centers we can provide excellent results healing leg
wounds while avoiding more expensive pathways, collaborating with other
physicians and medical supply industry using the finest and the latest proven
treatment modalities.

Wounds, lacerations, and ulcers on the leg can occur for a variety of reasons and can sometimes be challenging to heal. Most often, especially in a young population, wounds are secondary to trauma, such as hitting, resulting in bruising or scraping the leg, surgical wounds, and dropping something on the leg. In a young person who is otherwise healthy these should heal in a few weeks. The same wound in an older person with conditions, such as arthrosclerosis, vein disease, diabetes, or advanced disfiguring arthritis can be very challenging and even limb threatening. While arteriosclerosis and diabetes get a lot of attention and press, they usually affect the foot and represent a small percentage of leg
wounds. More than 80% of difficult or chronic wounds on the leg are affected or caused by underlying vein problems. In the face of venous insufficiency (varicose veins), wounds can take a prolonged time to heal and can be very painful. Sometimes with long-standing venous disease, wounds that are leg ulcers can spontaneously occur on the skin around the ankle, which becomes very fragile and brittle when associated with long-term vein disease.

When these wounds occur, they can be very painful, ooze fluid, develop redness around them, and become tender to touch. Frequently they are treated by medical practitioners who have no background or training in wound management, subsequently providing measures that don’t help. Or worse, these measures may be contraindicated. As a result, practitioners often prescribe antibiotic ointments, along with peroxide, iodine, or betadine that can have an adverse effect on the tissue and interfere with healing. These types of
treatment are not needed in the vast majority of patients.

In fact, studies have shown that most leg wounds are either due to or are adversely affected by underlying venous disease. Within the last few years, it has been shown that wounds affected by venous disease heal faster when the underlying veins are treated properly at the same time as the wound is treated. Venous disease is apparent when varicose veins are obvious but that is not always the case. In fact, up to 60% of patients that have venous disease do not present with significant, or any varicose veins. As a result, the other signs such as skin redness, itchiness, and, or a slow or non healing wound are not understood to be related to venous disease by many medical providers. Importantly, proper diagnostic imaging using specific protocols for evaluating veins should be preformed by accredited facilities like Vascular Vein Centers. Traditionally venous wounds have been treated with compression and wound care. We now know that when the underlying veins, which are the cause or the exacerbating factor in most leg wounds, are treated simultaneously, faster healing times and lower wound reoccurrence rates are achieved. This is very important since 60% of the wounds around the ankle reoccur in two years.

This simultaneous combination of treatment has shown a definitive decrease in related pain, decreased time away from work, and decreased cost of care. Unfortunately, despite the evidence, wound care centers continue the old treatment paradigm of compression, various types of dressings, and periodic debridement as well as hyperbaric oxygen without treating the underlying venous disease.

The deficiency in this type of leg health motivated Dr. Sam Martin, M.D, the Medical Director at all six Vascular Vein Centers locations in greater Central Florida to create the first leg wound clinic in Central Florida. Dr. Martin along with several other doctors recognized the need for a consistent approach to wounds using best medical practices. In the early 1980’s he created the first wound care center in Central Florida and was the medical director there for eight years. He is one of only a few physicians who are wound care accredited.

Vascular Vein Centers, which is celebrating 25 years of excellence in treating venous problems, is the first and only IAC accredited vein center in greater Central Florida. Dr. Martin and his staff are now formally informing the public that they treat leg wounds and are the first and only vein practice to do so.

Venous ulcers require expertise in the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care. At Vascular Vein Centers we can provide excellent results healing leg wounds while avoiding more expensive pathways, collaborating with other physicians and the medical supply industry using the finest and the latest proven treatment modalities. Of late, we are excited to offer in our clinics an advanced skin substitute used with some cases of leg wounds that is reimbursed by many insurances for the first time to our patients. This skin substitute is available via a collaborative relationship with Organogenesis, the foremost developer of skin substitutes used in wound healing. These relationships and our expertise at Vascular Vein Centers can further speed time of healing.

Vascular Vein Centers was founded on excellence of patient care and continues to practice with emphasis on an enhanced doctor patient relationship. Here, patients have access to our medical providers where communication is a core value and proven. We provide treatment modalities that have been developed
with knowledge, experience, and integrity.

Vascular Vein Centers has been singularly dedicated to the treatment of venous disease to enhance leg health longer than any other medical provider. It is the only nationally accredited vein practice for both diagnostic and treatment of vein disease. It is the only leg wound practice in greater Central Florida.

SOLUTIONS AT VASCULAR VEIN CENTERS
Do you have slow or non healing lower leg wounds with or without varicose veins? We offer a full scope of treatment solutions to help your wounds heal. These treatments do not require sedation and most patients resume normal activity within a day or two. Contact our expert team at Vascular Vein Centers to learn more.