Positive effects of monolayer elastic compression in patients with venous ulcer in pain and sleep patterns

Venous ulcers (VU) constitute the majority of all leg ulcers. The common assumption that venous ulcers are not painful has recently been challenged. As many as three fourths of patients with VU report pain, which in turn causes a significant decrease in patients of ability to perform everyday, physiological functions. One of these functions is sleep.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the sleep profile and sleep quality of patients with VU, before and after the use of the monolayer elastic compression system.

Twenty-two patients with venous ulcer, with Classification System for Chronic Venous Disorders - CEAP 6, were involved in a quasi-experimental, pre-and post-test study. In order to evaluate pain, the visual analogue scale (VAS), Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) were used. To identify the subjective characteristics of sleep, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used before the start of treatment and thirty days after daily use of the monolayer compression system. The maintenance of the humid micro-environment with amorphous hydrogel and gauze was chosen as the primary dressing for all patients.

All patients, prior to the use of elastic compression, reported severe pain (VAS = 8.4; sd 1.2), IBD showing constant pain and high MPQ (72.1; sd 3.4). PSQI revealed that only 22% of the sample had good sleep quality. The indexes had positive and statistically significant changes after the use of the compression system, with VAS = 4.2; sd 1.8; IBD identified the eventual pain picture, MPQ = 46.4; sd 6.7 and 89% had good sleep quality.

Based on the results, it is possible to infer that the elastic compression with monolayer system caused important changes in the perception of pain and sleep quality in patients with venous ulcers.