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A Review of Microvascular Measurements in Wound HealingClinica M. D. Barbantini Lucca, Lucca, Italy
Dipartimento CardioToracico, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Clinica M. D. Barbantini Lucca, Lucca, Italy, mosti{at}tin.it The microcirculatory evaluation in patients affected by arteriopathic or venous ulcers is usually carried out using laser Doppler flowmetry, transcutaneous oxygen (transcutaneous pressure of oxygen, TcPO2), and carbon dioxide (transcutaneous pressure of carbon dioxide, TcPCO2) measurements and capillaroscopy. These techniques provide significant pathophysiologic and prognostic information. TcPO2 and TcPCO2 diagnose and classify the extent of arterial disease in the leg ulcers caused by arterial disease; the prognostic value is recognized, though doubts about its prognostic potential exist in the case of leg ulcer. Laser Doppler flowmetry is able to identify the first functional impairment in the early stages of the arterial disease and in the complicated venous insufficiency. Capillaroscopy gives us morphological and quantitative parameters of the capillary bed that is damaged in arteriopathic and venous ulcers; nevertheless, it does not provide us with definite prognostic indexes. Combining the 3 methods may contribute to yield objective measures in the clinical management of lower extremity ulcers.
Key Words: microcirculation laser Doppler flowmetry TcPO2 TcPCO2 capillaroscopy leg ulcers arterial ulcers venous ulcers
The International Journal of Lower Extremity Wounds, Vol. 5, No. 3,
181-199 (2006) This article has been cited by other articles:
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