ABSTRACT
Objective
to perform clinical and sociodemographic evaluation of patients with leg ulcers.
Method
cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, performed with 105 patients with leg ulcers in public outpatient clinics located in Niterói/RJ, approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Medical School of Universidade Federal Fluminense. Data were collected from January to August 2019, analyzed by descriptive statistics and organized in tables.
Results
most were male patients (57.1%), aged between 60-80 years (60%), with incomplete primary education (45.7%) and monthly income up to 1 minimum wage (64.8%). Most ulcers were of venous etiology (76.2%), present for 40 months or more (54.3%), with size greater than 10cm2 (53.3%), having serous exudate (91.4%) in small quantity (40%) and predominance of granulation tissue (36.2%). Pain was a frequent finding, related with the leg position (31.4%).
Conclusion and implications for practice
the knowledge of the population profile and clinical characteristics of wounds favors treatment optimization, allowing specific nursing care planning.
Keywords:
Ulcer; Leg ulcer; Wounds and Injuries; Nursing; Ambulatory Care