What is it about?
Answering two simple questions when a patient is first seen creates a three level score (0, 1, and 2) that shows the chance of venous ulcer healing within 24 weeks when using compression. A score of zero equals normal healing rates (78% chance), while scores of one (5% chance) and two (20% chance) equal slower healing rates. These scores also showed differences in median days to healing (40, 57, and 87 days respectively).
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Why is it important?
Clinicians can use the index score to support conversations about the necessity of using compression and manage their own and patient expectations about healing. The scores could be also used to work out who might benefit from earlier access to added treatments, such as drug therapies e.g. pentoxifylline or surgery. People doing research should also use the index to ensure prognostic balance between treatment groups.
Perspectives
This study validates the Margolis index score, which was first published in 2000. It shows that the three scores clearly reveal the likely healing trajectory for people with venous ulcers. It provides a simple clinical and research tool that means more expensive systems are unnecessary and resources can be focused on more important needs.
Andrew Jull
University of Auckland
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A simple index to predict healing in venous leg ulcers: a secondary analysis from four randomised controlled trials, Journal of Wound Care, October 2023, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/jowc.2023.32.10.657.
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