Surface NeuroMuscular Electrical Stimulation in the Treatment of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers

With an increasingly ageing population the incidence of venous ulceration is likely to rise. The negative impact of leg ulceration on patients' quality of life and on healthcare costs is well recognised. Increased prevalence combined with poor reported healing rates and high incidence of ulcer recurrence makes the development of a new treatment which could accelerate healing rates beyond that currently achieved using compression bandaging most desirable. Surface neuromuscular electrical stimulation in combination with compression bandaging may provide such a treatment. Surface neuromuscular electrical stimulation (SNMES) is the application of an electrical stimulus to motor points in the body using electrodes placed on the surface of the skin to elicit a muscular contraction. It has been shown that SNMES of the calf muscles, when used in conjunction with compression therapy, provides improved venous flow velocities over compression therapy alone. Furthermore, the week-long effect of SNMES and compression therapy on healthy participants was found to be well tolerated by all participants and resulted in increases in stimulated venous flow and muscle strength. A combined SNMES and compression treatment protocol which stimulates peripheral venous blood flow may help to alleviate harmful venous pressures in venous leg ulcer patients and provide some degree of strengthening of the calf muscles, thus helping to accelerate the healing rates of venous ulcers.