Use of low intensity direct current in management of ischemic skin ulcers.

A clinical investigation of the use of low intensity direct current (LIDC) in treating ischemic skin ulcers was conducted at the University of Missouri. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of LIDC on altering the healing rate of ischemic skin ulcers. One hundred ulcers were treated with LIDC. Six of the patients had bilateral symmetrical ulcers which provided the control group. The six control ulcers were managed exactly the same as their counterpart except that LIDC was omitted. The mean healing ratio of the control ulcers was 14.7 percent per week compared to 30 percent per week of the treated counterpart. The mean healing rate of the 100 ischemic skin ulcers treated with LIDC was 28.4 percent per week. The data indicated that ischemic skin ulcers treated with the current responded with a healing rate approximately twice as fast as those ulcers that did not receive LIDC treatment. The authors concluded that the use of LIDC added an effective modality to the armamentarium of the physical therapist for the treatment of ischemic skin ulcers.