Healing of venous ulcers using compression therapy: Predictions of a mathematical model

Abstract

Venous Leg Ulceration (VLU) is a chronic condition for which healthcare systems worldwide face rising treatment costs. VLU can be due to sustained venous hypertension which causes the veins to become cuffed with fibrin, inhibiting the supply of nutrients to the wound site. For patients that cannot tolerate compression therapy with an inelastic short stretch (SS) bandage, the mainstay treatment, an elastic three layered (3L) bandage is an alternative. In this paper, a mathematical model is developed to investigate whether the healing of venous ulcers under SS and 3L bandages occurs at different rates and to postulate the reason for any difference. The two treatments were applied to a simplifi..