Leg Wounds

What vascular problems cause leg wounds?

The leg wounds caused by vascular problems appear on your lower leg, often around your ankle or your feet. The following wounds develop due to problems in your veins, arteries, or both:

Venous insufficiency

Your leg veins use valves to keep blood flowing up the leg and back to your heart. When a valve fails, blood flows back down the vein and accumulates.

This condition, called venous insufficiency, can cause varicose veins. It also leads to high blood pressure in the lower leg vein. The increased pressure forces fluids out of the vein, which breaks down the skin and causes a wound.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD)

PAD develops when plaque builds up in an artery, becoming large enough to cause an arterial blockage and restrict blood flow, which in turn, deprives tissues of oxygen. 

As the plaque progressively worsens, the lack of oxygen is so severe that tissues die and you develop wounds.

What increases my risk of developing leg wounds?

You’re more likely to develop venous insufficiency if you spend a lot of time sitting or standing, you’re inactive, you have blood clots, or you have an injury that affects the vein. 

Your risk for PAD significantly increases if you have any of the following conditions that accelerate atherosclerosis:

• Diabetes
• High cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• Smoking
• Being overweight or obese

Even without PAD, diabetes causes foot and leg wounds as high blood sugar damages your blood vessels and nerves.

How are leg wounds treated?

Vascular Specialists begin by identifying the root cause of your wound, often performing an in-office ultrasound to verify the problem and assess the severity of your condition.

Wound healing demands extra energy and nutrition, so your Vascular Specialists provider recommends dietary changes and supplements to ensure your body has the resources to heal.

Conservative wound care includes:

• Compression therapy
• Medications
• Wound debridement
• Advanced dressings
• Infection control

In addition to wound care, Vascular Specialists treat the underlying condition with minimally-invasive procedures.

They may treat venous insufficiency with sclerotherapy, phlebectomy, or radiofrequency ablation (Venefit®). They also offer VenaSeal™, a non-thermal treatment that uses a medical adhesive to close the vein.

If you have PAD, Vascular Specialists restores normal blood flow by performing a balloon angioplasty and stenting or an atherectomy. Angioplasty pushes the plaque against the artery wall, while an atherectomy shaves away the plaque. 

At the first sign of a leg wound, call Vascular Specialists or book an appointment online.a