Venous leg ulcer patients: a review of the literature on lifestyle and pain-related interventions.

Contains fulltext : 59112.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)BACKGROUND: Having a leg ulcer has a major impact on daily life. Lifestyle is mentioned in most leg ulcer guidelines but mostly without much emphasis on the subject. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Evidence for the effect of nutrition, leg elevation and exercise on the healing of leg ulcers was reconsidered. Furthermore, the evidence for effective pain-related interventions was investigated. DESIGN: Systematic literature review. METHODS: Medline, Cinahl, Psychinfo and Cochrane were searched for studies on pain related interventions, and the effectiveness of leg elevation, leg exercise and nutritional interventions in patients with venous leg ulceration. RESULTS: Some evidence was found to support a positive effect of leg exercises on the endurance and power of the calf muscle and on the haemodynamic status of the limb. There is also evidence for a positive effect of leg elevation during bed rest without compression. No hard evidence was found concerning the effect of enriched or altered nutrition on wound healing. However, there is some evidence of nutritional deficits in this patient group. The use of eutectic mixture of local anaesthetic cream is effective for reducing pain in wound debridement, but pain relief in daily life is insufficiently treated. CONCLUSION: There is no real evidence of effectiveness of the investigated lifestyle interventions but there are indications that lifestyle interventions might contribute to healing or prevention of venous leg ulceration. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Although there is no hard evidence, it can be expected that interventions such as nutritional monitoring, guided exercise and leg elevation will have a substantial impact on wound healing in patients with venous leg ulceration. The use of eutectic mixture of local anaesthetic cream can be advised for pain relief with wound debridement. The current lack of effective pain treatment with venous leg ulceration emphasizes the need for effective pain treatment

Gender-Related Differences in Presentation, Treatment, and Outcome of Patients With Atrial Fibrillation in Europe. A Report From the Euro Heart Survey on Atrial Fibrillation

Objectives: This study sought to investigate gender-related differences in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) in Europe. Background: Gender-related differences may play a significant role in AF. Methods: We analyzed the data of 5,333 patients (42% female) enrolled in the Euro Heart Survey on Atrial Fibrillation. Results: Compared with men, the women were older, had a lower quality of life (QoL), had more comorbidities, more often had heart failure (HF) with preserved left ventricular systolic function (18% vs. 7%, p < 0.001), and less often had HF with systolic dysfunction (17% vs. 26%, p < 0.001). Among patients with typical AF symptoms (56% of women, 49% of men), there was no gender-related difference in the choice of rate or rhythm control. Among patients with atypical or no symptoms (44% of women, 51% of men), women less frequently underwent rhythm control (39% vs. 51%, p < 0.001) than did men. Women underwent less electrical cardioversion (22% vs. 28%, p < 0.001). Prescription of oral anticoagulants was identical (65%) in both genders. One-year outcome was similar except that women had a higher chance for stroke (odds ratio 1.83 in multivariable regression analysis, p = 0.019). Conclusions: Women with AF had more comorbidities, more HF with preserved systolic function, and a lower QoL than men. In the large group with atypical or no symptoms, women were treated appropriately more conservatively with less rhythm control than men. Women had a higher chance for stroke. Long-term QoL changes and other morbidities and mortality were similar. © 2007 American College of Cardiology Foundation

Antithrombotic treatment in real-life atrial fibrillation patients: a report from the Euro Heart Survey on Atrial Fibrillation

Aims To describe guideline adherence and application of different stroke risk strati. cation schemes regarding antithrombotic therapy in real-life atrial. brillation (AF) patients and to assess which factors influence antithrombotic management decisions.Methods and results The Euro Heart Survey enrolled 5333 AF patients in 35 countries, in 2003 and 2004. Prescription of antithrombotic drugs, especially oral anticoagulation (OAC), was hardly tailored to the patient's stroke risk pro. le as indicated by the joint guidelines of the American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and the European Society of Cardiology, ACCP guidelines, or CHADS(2) and Framingham risk scores. In multivariable analysis, only a limited number of the well-known stroke risk factors triggered OAC prescription. In contrast, less relevant factors, of which clinical type of AF and availability of an OAC monitoring outpatient clinic were the most marked, played a significant role in OAC prescription. Electrical cardioversions and catheter ablations clearly triggered OAC prescription, whereas pharmacological cardioversions even in the presence of stroke risk factors did not.Conclusion Antithrombotic therapy in AF is hardly tailored to the patient's stroke risk pro. le. Factors other than well-known stroke risk factors were significantly involved in antithrombotic management decisions. To facilitate this tailored treatment, guideline writers and physician educators should focus on providing one uniform and easy to use stroke risk strati. cation scheme