Abstract

Background and context (for other details see the poster):
Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) affects 6.6-9.4% of the general population (increasing to 10-21% in adults >50 years), with 1-2% of these individuals developing venous ulceration. Treatment of venous ulcers places a huge financial burden on national healthcare services.
Compression hosiery is currently the most common treatment for venous ulcers. However, ulceration recurrence rates are high and thus alternative therapies need to be pursued.
Supervised exercise training involving a combination of aerobic and resistance exercises might be useful adjunct to compression hosiery in the prevention and treatment of venous ulcers, via favourable effects on lower-limb blood flow and vascular function.
Hence we are proposing a feasibility study for a definitive randomised controlled trial of a combined exercise and compression hosiery intervention to improve health outcomes in patients with newly-diagnosed venous ulcers.