Venous and lymphovenous lower limb wound outcomes in specialist UK wound and lymphoedema clinics

Abstract

This article explores the impact of combining tissue viability and lymphoedema techniques on optimising time to healing. Aim: To investigate the healing rates observed in patients who presented to wound and lymphoedema specialist clinics, located in the south eastern region of England, with venous/lymphovenous ulceration of the lower limb during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2022 (30 months in all). Methodology: A retrospective analysis of patient outcomes. Results: 1041 patients were referred to the service, with a healing rate of 88.5% over 78 days. Discussion: When comparing 2013–2019 healing rates/time to healing vs 2020–2022 there was a decrease of 1.5% in the rate of healing and a mean reduction in time to healing of 40 days. Conclusion: Despite the pandemic the service was able to maintain previous levels of outcomes and observed a decrease in the mean time to healing.