Use of sugar in the treatment of infected leg ulcers.

Mrs R is an 84-year-old retired shop-keeper with a 17-year history of recurrent leg ulceration. She has received treatment in both primary and secondary care settings, including specialist dermatology and vascular clinics. Mrs R has a long history of non-compliance to treatment regime, removing bandages and rucking them down causing compression injuries that almost resulted in amputation of her right leg. On assessment by the author, she had two partial thickness ulcers to each leg, signs of venous insufficiency and malnutrition, and swabs cultured positive for a range of bacteria. Resistance to topical antimicrobials and allergy to systemic antibiotics meant that another solution had to be tried to relieve the bacterial load on Mrs R's wounds.