True long-term healing and recurrence of venous leg ulcers following SEPS combined with superficial venous surgery: a prospective study.

BACKGROUND: The role of perforator surgery remains unclear in the management of patients with leg ulcers. The aim of this study was to assess long-term healing and recurrence rates of leg ulcers following surgical intervention with combined Subfascial Endoscopic Perforator Surgery (SEPS) and superficial venous surgery.
METHOD: Case series with prospective long-term follow-up of 90 consecutive patients operated on with open (CEAP C6) or healed (CEAP C5) venous ulcers in 97 legs. Popliteal vein reflux was present in 21 legs. All 97 legs were treated with SEPS and 87% had additional superficial venous surgery. Patients were follow-up for a median of 77 months (range 60-112 months) with a minimum of 5 years.
RESULTS: 87% of all ulcerated legs healed. The three and five year recurrence rates were 8% and 18% respectively among survivors. In a multivariate Cox regression analysis previous vein surgery was the only factor significantly associated with recurrent ulceration (p=.004).
CONCLUSION: SEPS combined with superficial venous surgery leads to healing with a low recurrence rate in patients with open and healed venous ulcers. Previous venous surgery was found to be a significant risk factor for ulcer recurrence. This result emphasizes the importance of assiduous technique for varicose vein surgery and suggests a continuing role for perforator surgery in leg ulcer patients.