Therapeutic efficacy of physical combined therapy in the treatment of venous crural ulcers.

Objectives: Venous crural ulcer is a serious medical problem indeed, which is connected with patients' suffering and long term treatment generating high cost. The prognosis is unfavourable in many cases, as complete treatment of ulceration, when it is profound or really extensive is difficult to achieve, and sometimes impossible altogether. The aim of the study was to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of treatment of venous crural ulcers with the use of multifunctional device LASEROBARIA-S, designed for combined physical therapy procedures.

Method: 147 succeeding patients (67 women and 80 men) diagnosed with venous crural ulcer participated in the study, with age varied between 41 and 79 years (average age - 70.2 years). The patients underwent a 60 day cycle of combined physical therapy, with the use of multifunctional device LASEROBARIA-S, during which therapy the lower extremity of the patient was placed in the therapeutic chamber and simultaneously subjected to the action of: local oxygen hyperbaria, low-frequency variable magnetic field and low energy light radiation emitted by semiconductor LED diodes. Prior to the therapeutic cycle and after its completion, planimetric measurements of the area of ulcer and the assessment of pain intensity with use of VAS scale were performed, in relation to selected factors potentially affecting therapeutic effects of applied therapy, as: sex and age of patients, as well as initial size of the ulcer and duration of the ulcer presence.

Results: After the completion of therapeutic cycle, statistically significant reduction of the area of treated ulcer was found, by 5.4 cm on the average (16.3 cm vs 10.5 cm) (p < 0.05). Moreover, as a result of the combined therapy procedures performed, the statistically significant lowering of the intensity of pain sensation experienced by patients, assessed by means of VAS scale, was obtained (2.55 points vs 0.48 points) (p < 0.05). The obtained improvement was not dependent statistically significantly on any of analysed selected factors potentially affecting regenerative and analgesic effect of applied therapy.

Conclusions: The application of combined physical therapy with the use of LASEROBARIA-S device results in significant reduction of the area of the venous crural ulcer surface, as well as reduction of the intensity of accompanying pain complaints and this therapeutic effect was not dependent on sex and age of patients, as well as initial size of the ulcer and duration of the ulcer presence.