55 year old female with a skin lesion removed from the posterior calf. Lesion turned out to be a basal carcinoma. 7 weeks after the surgery, the patient had a large area of ulceration with copious drainage of fluid. The patient returned to the physician that did the procedure was told to continue changing dressings and that the ulcer would eventually heal. The patient came to see me and underwent a venous ultrasound showing incompetence of the small saphenous vein. The small saphenous vein is connected to the popliteal vein and the calf muscle pump. When the small saphenous vein is incompetent the skin is subjected to the extremely high pressures generated by the calf muscle pump. Treatment resulted rapid healing of the ulcer.
Current physiologic testing for ulcer perfusion may fail to identify patients with ischemia
Review of the technique of Foam Phlebectomy
Recurrent lower extermity DVT should prompt an investigation for venous outflow obstruction. Too often these patients are under treated.