Objective:

lower limb ulcers are mainly caused by venous disease. Saphenous compression and surgery have been shown to be effective therapies for its treatment, with similar cure rates. Early endovenous ablation has been confirmed to increase healing and decrease recurrence times, but the effect of simultaneous therapies for the treatment of venous reflux on healing is not fully determined.

Methods:

a descriptive, retrospective study of patients undergoing radiofrequency and ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy performed simultaneously as part of venous ulcer treatment was carried out, and their sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and post-intervention wound evolution were described.

Results:

of the extremities evaluated, 90.2 % (37) corresponded to women, with an average age of 65.8 years (± 12.5), 56.1 % (23) from rural areas, with a wound evolution time of 18 months (± 5- 204) and an area of 20 cm2 (± 8-80). The cure rate was 61 % (25/41) at 6 months, with significant differences in the area of the lesion before the intervention in the group that closed vs. the one that did not close (12 vs. 80 cm2, p < 0.001). A higher number of skin and soft tissue infections was found in the group that did not heal (0 vs. 37.5 %, p < 0.001), a recurrence rate of 4 % (1/25), and no hospitalization related to venous disease.

Conclusion:

in the population evaluated, radiofrequency ablation and ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy was performed simultaneously, there was greater closure in wounds with a smaller area compared to those with a larger area, a greater number of skin and soft tissue infections in the extremities that did not heal, without hospitalizations related to the evolution of the ulcer and a low rate of recurrence.

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