Cutaneous Blood Flow in Legs with Severe Chronic Venous Insufficiency Recorded before and after a Single Treatment Using Intermittent Pneumatic Compression

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate the skin laser Doppler flux (LDF) in legs with severe chronic venous insufficiency (CVI).

Design:

Comparison of the legs with severe CVI with the healthy legs and with the patients' contralateral legs.

Setting:

Department of Dermatology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

Patients and control subjects:

Ten patients and eight age-matched subjects with healthy legs.

Interventions:

A single treatment using intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) of 45 min duration.

Main outcome measures:

Laser Doppler flowmetry with the subjects in a recumbent and a sitting position.

Results:

The LDF values were higher for the legs with severe CVI than for the legs of healthy subjects (p<0.001 in a recumbent and p<0.01 in a sitting position). A single IPC increased the LDF in a recumbent position in the patients' legs with severe CVI (p=0.019) but had no significant effect on the LDF value in the sitting position. The venoarteriolar response was significantly better in the legs with severe CVI than in the legs of healthy subjects (p<0.05).

Conclusions:

The LDF is increased in legs with severe CVI and a single IPC further increases it in a recumbent position. The venoarteriolar response is not impaired in legs with severe CVI.