Compression Therapy in Dermatology. / Terapia compresiva en Dermatología.

The benefit of lower limb compression therapy is not limited to chronic venous insufficiency or/and lymphoedema. Thanks to its anti-edema and anti-inflammatory effects, compression therapy is considered a beneficial adjuvant therapy to treat atypical wounds, inflammatory dermatoses, cellulitis, and traumatic wounds in the absence of contraindications. Strict contraindications are limited to severe peripheral arterial disease and decompensated heart failure. The variability of commercially available compression materials and systems, such as short-stretch bandages, multi-component systems, zinc oxide bandages, medical adaptive compression systems, ulcer compression stockings or medical compression stockings, facilitates the adaptation of compression therapy to the individual needs of each patient. Compared to venous leg ulcers, low pressures of 20mmHg are often sufficient to treat dermatological disorders, with higher patient tolerance and compliance.

Validación de la versión española del cuestionario Wound-QoL / Validation of the Spanish Wound-QoL Questionnaire

ANTECEDENTES Y OBJETIVOS: El Wound-QoL es un cuestionario validado para medir la calidad de vida en pacientes con heridas crónicas, que fue desarrollado originalmente para su uso en alemán. El objetivo de este estudio fue traducir el cuestionario Wound-QoL para su uso en la práctica clínica y estudios de investigación en España, así como validar esta versión. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS: Se realizaron dos traducciones independientes del Wound-QoL, directa e inversa, a partir de la versión original en alemán, seguidas de un consenso de expertos sobre las versiones resultantes. Después de su perfeccionamiento se realizó un estudio piloto y posteriormente el estudio de validación. RESULTADOS: Se incluyó un total de 115 pacientes. La edad media fue de 69,5 (DE 14,5) años, y el 60,0% eran mujeres. La versión española del Wound-QoL mostró una excelente consistencia interna (índice alfa de Cronbach > 0,8 en todas las escalas). El análisis factorial dio como resultado las mismas escalas que la versión original. Se objetivaron características satisfactorias de la distribución de la puntuación global y de las subescalas. La validez de constructo y la validez convergente con otros resultados (calidad de vida genérica, tasa de curación) fueron satisfactorias. La gran mayoría de los pacientes consideraron que el cuestionario era una herramienta sencilla y factible. El tiempo medio necesario para completar el cuestionario fue de 5 minutos. El 99,1% de los participantes consideraron que las preguntas eran fáciles de entender y el 94,7% declaró que personal. CONCLUSIONES: La versión española del Wound-QoL muestra una excelente validez en la práctica clínica. Por lo tanto, puede ser recomendada para su uso tanto en la rutina clínica como en los ensayos

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The Wound-QoL is a validated and feasible questionnaire for measuring disease-specific health-related quality of life in chronic wounds, originally developed for use in German. The objective of this study was to translate the Wound-QoL for use in clinical care and in clinical trials in Spain and to validate this version. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two independent fourth- and back translations of the Wound-QoL from the original German version were conducted, followed by an expert consensus of the resulting versions. After refinement, the final tool was piloted in N = 10 patients and then used in the validation study. RESULTS: A total of 115 patients were recruited. Mean age was 69.5 (SD 14.5) years, 60.0% were female. The Spanish version of Wound-QoL showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha > 0.8 in all scales). Factor analysis resulted in the same scales as the original version. There were satisfactory distribution characteristics of the global score and the subscales. Construct validity and convergent validity with other outcomes (generic QoL, healing rate) were satisfactory. The vast majority of patients considered the Wound-QoL a simple and feasible tool. Mean time needed for completing the questionnaire was 5 minutes. Overall, 99.1% of the participants found it easy to understand the questions and 94.7% stated that the questionnaire suits the personal situation. CONCLUSIONS. The Spanish version of the Wound-QoL shows good validity in clinical practice. It can be recommended for use in clinical routine and trials

Validation of the Spanish Wound-QoL Questionnaire. / Validación de la versión española del cuestionario Wound-QoL.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The Wound-QoL is a validated and feasible questionnaire for measuring disease-specific health-related quality of life in chronic wounds, originally developed for use in German. The objective of this study was to translate the Wound-QoL for use in clinical care and in clinical trials in Spain and to validate this version. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two independent fourth- and back translations of the Wound-QoL from the original German version were conducted, followed by an expert consensus of the resulting versions. After refinement, the final tool was piloted in N=10 patients and then used in the validation study. RESULTS: A total of 115 patients were recruited. Mean age was 69.5 (SD 14.5) years, 60.0% were female. The Spanish version of Wound-QoL showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha>0.8 in all scales). Factor analysis resulted in the same scales as the original version. There were satisfactory distribution characteristics of the global score and the subscales. Construct validity and convergent validity with other outcomes (generic QoL, healing rate) were satisfactory. The vast majority of patients considered the Wound-QoL a simple and feasible tool. Mean time needed for completing the questionnaire was 5minutes. Overall, 99.1% of the participants found it easy to understand the questions and 94.7% stated that the questionnaire suits the personal situation. CONCLUSIONS: The Spanish version of the Wound-QoL shows good validity in clinical practice. It can be recommended for use in clinical routine and trials.

Principios teórico-prácticos de la terapia compresiva para el tratamiento y prevención de la úlcera venosa / Theory and Practice of Compression Therapy for Treating and Preventing Venous Ulcers

La compresión terapéutica es el pilar fundamental del tratamiento etiológico y de la prevención de recidivas de la úlcera venosa. En la actualidad disponemos de diferentes sistemas y estrategias para adaptar la terapia compresiva a las necesidades de cada paciente y aumentar su adherencia al tratamiento. Es fundamental el conocimiento de los principios teórico-prácticos de este tratamiento para lograr el éxito terapéutico. A pesar de que este artículo se centre fundamentalmente en la úlcera venosa, la terapia compresiva también ha mostrado un beneficio en otras patologías como el linfedema, las heridas post-traumáticas o las de causa inflamatoria

Compression therapy is the basis for treating the cause of venous ulcers and preventing recurrence. Various systems are currently available for applying compression and adapting them to patients' needs can improve adherence to treatment. Understanding the principles that underlie compression therapy is essential for success. Although this paper focuses mainly on venous ulcers, compression has also proven beneficial for other conditions, such as lymphedema and wounds resulting from injury or inflammation

Association of autologous punch grafting, TLC-NOSF dressing and multitype compression therapy to rapidly achieve wound closure in hard-to-heal venous leg ulcers.

OBJECTIVE: To document the efficacy of a combined therapeutic strategy in achieving rapid wound healing in patients with long-standing ulcers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Outpatients with hard-to-heal venous leg ulcers were included in an interventional, prospective, single-arm, mono-centre study and treated with autologous punch grafting, TLC-NOSF dressing and multi-type compression therapy. The primary outcome was the percentage of healed wounds by week 12. Secondary outcomes included time-to-reach wound closure, wound area reduction, treatment acceptability and safety. RESULTS: From November 2018 to October 2019, 42 patients with 51 ulcers were included (23 males, 70.6±40.8 years old, with multiple comorbidities). Despite poor wound healing prognosis at baseline (47% of recurrent ulcers, with a mean duration of 15 months and a mean area of 12.6cm2), wound healing was achieved in 47 ulcers (92%) after a mean period of treatment of 25±13 days. A relative wound area reduction>75% was also reached in three additional ulcers by the last evaluation visit. No adverse event related to the procedure was reported throughout the study period. The associated treatment were very well tolerated and accepted by the patients. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluated procedure induced fast re-epithelisation of the treated ulcers. Based on our experience, this simple and successful reparative strategy may be considered as an interesting option in the treatment of venous leg ulcers of poor prognosis.

Theory and Practice of Compression Therapy for Treating and Preventing Venous Ulcers. / Principios teórico-prácticos de la terapia compresiva para el tratamiento y prevención de la úlcera venosa.

Compression therapy is the basis for treating the cause of venous ulcers and preventing recurrence. Various systems are currently available for applying compression and adapting them to patients' needs can improve adherence to treatment. Understanding the principles that underlie compression therapy is essential for success. Although this paper focuses mainly on venous ulcers, compression has also proven beneficial for other conditions, such as lymphedema and wounds resulting from injury or inflammation.

Tratamiento de la úlcera isquémica hipertensiva de Martorell con microinjertos autólogos en sello / Punch Grafting for the Treatment of Martorell Hypertensive Ischemic Leg Ulcer

No disponible

Validation of a short-form of the Freiburg Life Quality Assessment for lymphoedema (FLQA-LS) instrument.

BACKGROUND: Chronic lymphoedema (CLE) is a burdensome disease of multiple causes leading to significant reductions in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). A specific method to assess HRQoL is the Freiburg Life Quality Assessment for lymphoedema (FLQA-L), which consists of 92 items. OBJECTIVES: To develop and validate a short form of the FLQA-L with improved psychometric properties and feasibility. METHODS: The FLQA-L validation data were reanalysed by patients and experts. The application of factor analysis enabled the exclusion of lower-load items. An optimized short version of the questionnaire (FLQA-LS) with 33 items was generated and tested in a validation study on patients with different forms of CLE. RESULTS: In total, 348 patients with CLE of the upper or lower extremities were included (mean age 57.3 years, range 24-89; 90.8% female), and data from 301 patients could be analysed. Overall, 42.8% of the patients had secondary lymphoedema, 23.6% had primary lymphoedema, 9.5% had lipoedema and 24.1% had lipolymphoedema. The lower extremities were mostly affected (64.4% of the patients presented with leg involvement and 17.5% with both arm and leg impairment). The FLQA-LS showed good internal consistency, with high Cronbach's alpha in the subscales and in the global scale ranging between 0.79 and 0.94. Regarding convergent validity, a good correlation was found with the general HRQoL questionnaire EQ-5D (r = 0.72, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: FLQA-LS is an improved version of the FLQA-L questionnaire for chronic lymphoedema. It demonstrated validity and feasibility and can be easily used in clinical practice and research studies.

Plasma rico en plaquetas: aplicaciones en dermatología / Platelet-Rich Plasma: Applications in Dermatology

La aplicación del plasma rico en plaquetas ha experimentado un notable auge en los últimos años en una amplia variedad de enfermedades y situaciones clínicas. Su empleo en dermatología va más allá de su asociación con el envejecimiento facial. En la literatura se pueden encontrar series de casos y estudios controlados que muestran buenos resultados en aplicaciones diversas, como las úlceras cutáneas y, más recientemente, la alopecia. Sin embargo, estas indicaciones no están reconocidas en la ficha técnica en el momento actual, a falta de poder demostrar sus beneficios reales con mayor evidencia científica. Ante la expansión en el uso de esta técnica resulta fundamental el conocimiento de sus fundamentos biológicos y la evaluación de la calidad y de los resultados de los trabajos que estudian su aplicación en diferentes enfermedades cutáneas

In recent years, the use of platelet-rich plasma has increased notably in a range of diseases and settings. Uses of these products now go beyond skin rejuvenation therapy in patients with facial ageing. Good outcomes for other dermatological indications such as skin ulcers and, more recently, alopecia have been reported in case series and controlled studies. However, these indications are not currently included in the labeling given that stronger scienti- fic evidence is required to support their real benefits. With the increased use of these products, dermatologists need to become familiar with the underlying biological principles and able to critically assess the quality and outcomes of the studies of these products in different skin diseases

Platelet-rich plasma: applications in dermatology.

In recent years, the use of platelet-rich plasma has increased notably in a range of diseases and settings. Uses of these products now go beyond skin rejuvenation therapy in patients with facial ageing. Good outcomes for other dermatological indications such as skin ulcers and, more recently, alopecia have been reported in case series and controlled studies. However, these indications are not currently included in the labeling given that stronger scientific evidence is required to support their real benefits. With the increased use of these products, dermatologists need to become familiar with the underlying biological principles and able to critically assess the quality and outcomes of the studies of these products in different skin diseases.