Patients with chronic edema of the leg had lower recurrence of cellulitis with compression therapy when compared with conservative treatment, a new study has found.
Chronic edema is a risk factor for cellulitis, one of the most common soft tissue infections found in nursing homes. Daily use of compression garments has been recommended to prevent this oft-recurring outcome, but there is limited trial evidence that it is effective, wrote lead author and physiotherapist Elizabeth Webb, M.P.H., Calvary Public Hospital Bruce in Australia.
In a single-center, non-blinded trial, 41 patients received leg compression therapy plus education on cellulitis prevention, whereas a control group of 43 people received education alone. Participants were followed every six months for up to three years or until 45 episodes of cellulitis had occurred overall (participants started the trial at different times).
By the study’s end, 15% of participants using leg compression and 40% of the control group had experienced new cellulitis episodes. Three from the compression group and six from the control group required hospitalization for cellulitis during the trial period.
Full findings were published Aug. 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
