Leg ulcers: a public health challenge
Leg ulcers are a skin lesion arising from bad blood circulation in the veins and/or the arteries.
Venous leg ulcers are the most common type of ulceration of the leg. It is a significant clinical concern, affecting around 1% of the population and 3% of elderly people over the age of 80 in Western countries (1).
It is a wound that takes a long time to heal. It must be treated by a doctor as soon as possible to prevent aggravation. This severe disease has a significant impact on patients’ quality-of-life (2), and also leads to very high treatment costs, estimated at almost 272 million Euro per year in France (3), for home treatment only.
Improvement in leg ulcer healing time is therefore a genuine public health challenge.
Medical compression: the reference aetiological treatment for venous leg ulcers
Currently in France, the guidelines for treating venous leg ulcers cite medical compression as the standard treatment for chronic venous conditions.
In the open ulcer stage, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) [French National Authority for Health] recommends using multicomponent bandages, such as URGO K2, in first intention, until fully healed (4).
Urgo K2, an innovative technology for treating leg ulcers
UrgoK2 (5) is a multicomponent compression system which ensures reliable and continuous compression that patients need to recover from their venous leg ulcer (4) (6) (7).
(1) Posnett, J., Gottrup, F., Lundgren, H., Saal, G. The resource impact of wounds on health-care providers in Europe. J Wound Care 2009;18: 4,154–61.
(2) Internal data – Laboratoires URGO – QIPI VLU 2019 / 4
(3) Améliorer la qualité du système de santé et maîtriser les dépenses : propositions de l’Assurance Maladie pour 2014 – Rapport au Ministre chargé de la Sécurité Sociale et au Parlement sur l’évolution des charges et produits de l’Assurance Maladie au titre de 2014 (loi du 13 août 2004)
(4) « La compression veineuse est le traitement de base des affections veineuses chroniques à partir du stade C2 (varices ≥ 3 mm) » – Bon usage des technologies de santé – La compression médicale dans les affections veineuses chroniques – December 2010. Available at www.has-sante.fr
(5) Urgo K2 references: Controlled-pressure, multicomponent, two-layer compression system. Indications: Treatment of venous leg ulcers and/or lower limb swelling, for which strong compression is recommended, in adults. Contraindications: Moderate or severe arterial disease, especially with recent Ankle-Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI) of <0.8. Patient suffering from phlegmasia coerulea dolens (painful blue inflammation with arterial compression), septic thrombosis. Swelling caused by congestive heart failure. Extra-anatomic arterial bypass. Known hypersensitivity to any of the ingredients, especially the latex for the kit containing latex. Read the leaflet before use. See your pharmacist or doctor for more information. This medical device is a regulated health product, which according to legislation, carries CE marking. Laboratoires Urgo – 42, rue de Longvic – 21300 Chenôve – France.
(6) Junger: Jünger M, Ladwig A, Bohbot S, et al. Comparison of interface pressures of three compression bandaging systems used on healthy volunteers. J Wound Care. 2009;18(11):474, 476-80.
(7) Benigni: Benigni JP, Lazareth I, Parpex P, et al. Efficacy, safety and acceptability of a new two-layer bandage system for venous leg ulcers. J Wound Care. 2007;16(9):385-90.
