Venous leg ulceration: a look back on changes in practice, treatments and patients

Four-layer bandaging has been in existence for the past 25 years, and for the majority of this time compression bandaging has been considered the ‘gold standard’ treatment for venous leg ulceration. Compression bandaging has revolutionised care and before it was introduced there was very little understanding of leg ulceration in the nursing world. For the most severe ulcers, the only treatment option available was to admit patients to hospital for bed rest. This was never ideal and only provided short-term benefits as ulcers would often reoccur after the patient was discharged. The management of leg ulceration has improved significantly and this article outlines some of the changes that have occurred in compression therapy, the nursing profession and the patient population since the 1980s.