Malnutrition in patients with leg ulcers

Abstract

Chronic wounds occur in 1-2% of the population. After the age of 80 the incidence raises up to 4-5%. Leg ulcers are the most frequent diagnosed chronic wound. In this most often affected age group malnutrition develops more frequently compared to the total population. The combined presence of chronic wounds and malnutrition suggests a potential causative connection. In this clinical investigation, data evaluating the nutritional status in patients with chronic leg ulcers, derived from clinical examination, medical history and laboratory tests was analyzed for the first time for a German patient collective. Over a time period of one year we evaluated 41 patients for body mass index, diabetes mellitus, restricted mobility, diet, nicotine and alcohol use, and blood levels of vitamins, trace elements, lipids and HbA1c. We further employed the MNA-questionnaire for malnutrition. We rarely found deficiencies but often improper nutritional practices. Thus we consider that it important to evaluate nutritional status even in obese patients with leg ulcers and poorly healing wounds.

Interdisciplinarna obravnava osebe z rano: Univerzitetni učbenik

“…Vedno ve je dokazov, da se zaradi pomanjkanja hranil poslabša celjenje rane. Stanje prehranjenosti oseb z nezaceljeno golenjo razjedo je bistveno slabše kot pri tistih, ki so imeli golenjo razjedo že zaceljeno (Dealey, 2005;Graue et al, 2008). Pri ljudeh, ki so dobro hranjeni, je as bivanja v bolnišnici krajši, incidenca zapletov je nižja, celjenje ran pa je boljše (Banks et al, 2013;Stechmiller, 2010).…”

Nutritional Status of People with a Coexisting Chronic Wound and Extended Assessment Using Bioelectrical Impedance

“…Malnutrition develops more often in the elderly than in the general population. The coexistence of chronic wounds and malnutrition suggests a potential causal relationship [ 1 ]. There is an increased risk of chronic wounds with age.…”

“…Available data underline the importance and necessity of using the recommended screening methods. It has been shown that the measurement of body weight or waist-to-hip ratio alone is not sufficient to assess the nutritional status of patients with wounds [ 1 , 10 , 11 ].…”

Lived experiences of Jamaican hospital patients with delayed wound healing

“…[4] The label chronic or delayed was applied to wounds in which compromised healing was anticipated, usually because of complex underlying pathologies such as diabetes mellitus, vascular disease, malignancy, malnutrition, or morbid obesity. [5][6][7][8] Other factors which adversely affected wound healing included drug use, hypoxia, the presence of another wound, nutritional problems and tissue necrosis. Diabetes delays wound healing by diminishing sensation and arterial inflow; protein calorie malnutrition and deficiencies of vitamin A, C and zinc also impair the normal wound healing mechanism.…”