Objective: To study the prevalence, demography, perceived aetiology, level of care, treatment and nursing care of patients treated for leg and foot ulcers.
Design: Prospective survey of leg and foot ulcer patients, using a structured questionnaire consisting of 20 questions directed at nurses and doctors in 193 units, including both primary health care and hospital.
Setting: South Stockholm Medical Area, Stockholm, Sweden.
Patients: Two hundred and ninety-four patients with leg and foot ulcers were identified during the six-week study period.
Main Outcome Measures: Demographic data of population, prevalence of leg and foot ulcers, level of care, economic aspects, treatment of ulcers, level of compression, characteristics of the ulcers, pain and analgesics.
Results: With a population of 241,804 in the area, the prevalence of leg and foot ulcer was 0.12%. The majority of patients (92%) were older than 65 years of age, median age 79.2 years. The commonest cause of leg ulceration, as estimated by the staff, was venous insufficiency (42%). The majority of patients were treated within the primary health care system, and only a minority were treated in hospital. Many different local wound dressings were used (n = 51). The majority of dressing changes were performed by auxiliary nurses (54%). Compression was practised in 86% of all cases diagnosed as venous ulcers. Pain was reported by staff in 47% of all patients with venous ulcers. No pain relief was given to 29% of all these cases.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/02813439608997091 | DOI Listing |
BMJ Open
January 2025
College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Queensland Research Centre for Peripheral Vascular Disease, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.
Introduction: Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) can experience intermittent claudication, which limits walking capacity and the ability to undertake daily activities. While exercise therapy is an established way to improve walking capacity in people with PAD, it is not feasible in all patients. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) provides a way to passively induce repeated muscle contractions and has been widely used as a therapy for chronic conditions that limit functional capacity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicromachines (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea.
The application of smart materials in robots has attracted considerable research attention. This study developed an inchworm robot that integrates smart materials and a bionic design, using the unique properties of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) to improve the performance of robots in complex environments, as well as their adaptability and movement efficiency. This research stems from solving the problem of the insufficient adaptability of traditional bionic robots on different surfaces.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Devices, University of Brighton, Brighton, United Kingdom.
Diabetic foot, leg ulcers and decubitus ulcers affect millions of individuals worldwide leading to poor quality of life, pain and in several cases to limb amputations. Despite the global dimension of this clinical problem, limited progress has been made in developing more efficacious wound dressings, the design of which currently focusses on wound protection and control of its exudate volume. The present in vitro study systematically analysed seven types of clinically-available wound dressings made of different biomaterial composition and engineering.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBioengineering (Basel)
January 2025
School of Engineering, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, MI 49504, USA.
In quiet standing, the central nervous system implements a pre-programmed ankle strategy of postural control to maintain upright balance and stability. This strategy comprises a synchronized common neural drive delivered to synergistically grouped muscles. This study evaluated connectivity between EMG signals of the unilateral and bilateral homologous muscle pairs of the lower legs during various standing balance conditions using magnitude-squared coherence (MSC).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Biomech
January 2025
Biorobotics and Biomechanics Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, 04469, ME, United States of America. Electronic address:
Interlimb coordination can be used as a metric to study the response of the neuromuscular system to mechanical perturbations and behavioral information. Behavioral information providing haptic feedback on thigh angle has been shown to increase stride length and consequently walking speed, but the effect of such feedback on limb coordination has not been determined. The current work investigates the effects of this feedback on lower-limb coordination and examines if such effects are dependent on the age of the walker.
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