Compression Therapy: Inside the Wrap
March 17, 2008
Words of wisdom: Get a leg up on compression systems
Val Sullivan, PT, MS, CWS; and Dot Weir, RN, CWON, CWS
Mr. RU Swollen is referred to your clinic from his primary care provider. He walks into the clinic with an antalgic gait then rests in the waiting room. On examination, both lower extremities are edematous, the left greater than the right. He has purulent draining ulcers over the left foot and leg as well as the right leg. Pedal pulses are weakly palpable and his blood glucose level is 196 mg/dL. Should this patient receive compression for his lower extremities?
Compression therapy is considered a standard of care for chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) patients. A wound care practitioner’s instinctive response is to compress the edematous leg in an effort to control the cause of the wound rather than to simply dress the ulcer. Knowing when to apply compression, what compression or support to utilize, and how to safely compress are critical in the care of these patients.
The Overall Picture
Assessment. The bedrock of the treatment plan must be a comprehensive patient assessment. Through appropriate clinical testing, the root cause of the edema must be determined. Does the patient have lymphedema, CVI, or a combination of the two? Is the patient experiencing an acute flare or episode related to another diagnosis such as deep vein thrombosis or congestive heart failure (CHF) exacerbation? A thorough history and exam should rule out disease processes (eg, arterial occlusive disease) that would put the limb at greater risk with the addition of a compression therapy. If arterial patency is in question, comprehensive arterial studies should be done before compression therapy is applied. Special consideration and precaution should be given to diabetic patients who may have a deceptively elevated ankle/brachial index (ABI) secondary to disease related atherosclerotic changes and calcification of vessels.
If it has been established that the patient’s lower extremity arterial system is adequate and compression would be of benefit, the source of the swelling (ie, edema or lymphedema) must be determined. Patients with lymphedema ideally should have been seen and treated by a clinician trained in manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) and complete decongestive therapy (CDT), a certified CLT-LANA therapist. Although edema and lymphedema patients both are treated with compression therapy, the lymphedema therapy regimen may be quite different from the management of edema resulting from CVI.
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