2023/02/23 by Yaping Lian, Linda Birt, David Wright
Health Professions · Medicine · #Central Venous Catheters and Hemodialysis #Diagnosis and Treatment of Venous Diseases #Wound Healing and Treatments
paper · doi:10.12968/bjon.2023.32.4.s30
openalex publication_date 2023/02/23 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Venous leg ulcer treatment is frequently discontinued in hospitals in contravention of national guidance, significantly affecting patient outcomes and increasing NHS costs. AIM: To identify, from the published literature, reasons for variable implementation. METHOD: Systematic review with narrative synthesis, including full papers in English with empirical qualitative data. Synonyms for venous leg ulcer, compression therapy and secondary care were searched across a range of health-related databases. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist determined study quality, and meta-ethnography was used for data synthesis. RESULTS: 7040 titles and abstracts and 41 full-text papers were screened with four papers selected. Three key themes were generated: educational needs surrounding implementation of compression therapy, patient factors regarding adherence and organisational resources including availability of appropriate equipment and trained staff. CONCLUSION: Barriers at the ward level were identified. There is a need to better understand why hospitals are not addressing them.