A Retrospective Analysis of Patients With Full Thickness Wounds in Limbs With Critical Ischemia

Clinicians have even learned to group patients into different etiologic categories based on underlying disease such as diabetes mellitus, decubitus ulcer, surgical site infection, venous insufficiency, arterial insufficiency and others. It seems that wounds have been grouped into these categories because of their common barriers, which should allow us more precise algorithms and may provide better outcomes. That is diabetics tend to have the barriers of poor perfusion, endothelial cell dysfunction, white blood cell dysfunction, hyperglycemia, neuropathy and repetitive trauma. Venous insufficiency patients tend to have perivascular cuffing and peri wound edema. However patients with venous leg ulcers commonly have peripheral arterial disease and diabetes (3). The point is regardless of the etiology of the wound every patient must be evaluated for all barriers on every visit. Arbitrarily dividing chronic wounds in the etiologic categories has not significantly improved wound healing outcomes.

Inclusion criteria

• The inclusion criteria for the study are patients that demonstrate the following:

• A limb with a TCpO2 less than 20 with a full thickness wound.
• Initial visit from August 1, 2002 to December 31, 2005.

Exclusion criteria

• The exclusion criteria for the study are patients that demonstrate the following:

• Partial thickness wound or no wound in limb with critical ischemia.
• A medical record that does not clearly demonstrate critical limb ischemia or does not clearly demonstrates a full thickness wound.