Vascular physiotherapy for treatment of chronic venous disease: review article

Abstract

Physiotherapy has an important role to play in prevention of and recovery from the damage cause by chronic venous disease (CVD), employing techniques that are adapted to and focused on clinical disease status, in which form it is known as vascular physiotherapy. Early initiation of treatment with vascular physiotherapy can relieve symptoms of the disease, reduce the risk of venous ulcers and improve the quality of life of CVD patients. The objective of this literature review was to develop a protocol for treatment with vascular physiotherapy, compiling evidence of the benefits of each vascular physiotherapy technique and suggesting how they can be used for treatment of CVD. This is a review of literature investigating the subject that is listed on the LILACS and SciELO bibliographic databases and was published from 1990 to 2014. The resulting protocol is a proposal for treatment oriented towards the requirements of people with CVD, with the objective of achieving better quality of life.

Keywords:
venous insufficiency; physiotherapy; exercise; therapy