A case of varicose venous ulcer of lower extremity

  Fang, female, 79 years old, was admitted to the hospital on June 17, 2011. She was admitted to the hospital on June 17, 2011 with “bruised and tortuous veins in both lower limbs for more than 20 years and skin ulceration in the left calf for more than 2 months”. The patient had a history of varicose veins in the lower extremities for more than 20 years. 2 months ago, after scratching due to skin itching, the skin of the left calf ulcerated and did not converge, but did not pay attention to it. The sore expanded to the entire calf, and the pain on the sore could not be relieved day and night. The patient denied any history of diabetes mellitus. At the time of consultation, the patient’s left calf skin ulceration did not converge and the pain on the sore surface was severe, affecting sleep at night, weakness, lazy speech, body heat and flatness, poor nausea, and bowel movement. On examination, the patient was thin, with a yellowish complexion and a low spirit. A huge sore was seen on the left calf, from below the knee to the top of the ankle and around the calf for a week, with yellowish-white rotting flesh adhering firmly to the sore that was difficult to remove, with thin and little pus. The tongue is pale and dark, with yellowish greasy coating and a thin string pulse. The treatment is to clear heat and dampness, harmonize with the Ying and to keep toxins at bay. The prescription was based on Si Miao Wan combined with Dioscorea Z and Dampness Soup, with 12g each of Atractylodes macrocephala and Peach kernel, 15g each of Phellodendron Bark, Coix Seed, Powdered Dioscorea Z, Tu Fu Ling, Radix Paeoniae Alba, Plantago lanceolata and Lonicerae, 9g each of Radix Astragalus Membranaceus and Zelenia, 30g of Radix Astragali, 12g of Radix Saponariae and 6g of Radix Glycyrrhiza Uralensis. After 10 days, the patient complained that the pain on the sore surface was significantly reduced, the night sleep improved, the spirit improved, but the nausea was still not good, and it was found that the rotting flesh in the sore of the left calf was significantly reduced, the bottom of the sore revealed light red flesh buds, and white skin islands were seen growing in some of the sores, the redness of the skin around the sore subsided, the swelling was reduced, and the yellow greasy tongue moss gradually dissolved. After 1 week, the patient’s evidence improved, the sore surface rotting flesh has basically been exhausted, partly seen a small amount of yellow-white pus, the sore surface flesh color turned red, the secretion color is clear, the sore in the white skin island increased expansion, part of the skin island fusion into pieces. The tongue is light and dark, the fur is thin and white, and the pulse is thin and stringent. The treatment is to benefit qi and eliminate blood stasis, strengthen the spleen and promote yang, and tonify the kidney and fill the essence. The prescription was based on the combination of Tonic Yang Returning Five Soup, Tonic Zhong Yi Qi Tang and Six Flavored Dihuang Wan. 30 g each of Astragalus Membranaceus, Radix et Rhizoma Gastrodiae, Radix et Rhizoma Puerariae, Salviae Miltiorrhizae, 15 g each of Radix Codonopsis, Poria, Epimedium, Radix Rehmanniae, Semen Coicis, 12 g each of Radix Angelicae Sinensis and Peach kernel, 9 g each of Atractylodes Macrocephala, Rhizoma Safflower, Di Long, Radix Achyranthes Bidentatae and Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae. After one week, the patient was discharged from the hospital and followed up in the outpatient clinic, and the sore surface was found to have healed. The patient was advised to continue to take the previous medication to consolidate the treatment, and at the same time, the patient was advised to tie the lower limbs with elastic bandages to promote venous return and protect the sore surface to reduce recurrence.  The patient in this case was nearly 80 years old, with a history of tendon tumor, and the calf had been infected with poisonous ulcers for a long time after scratching. The pathogenesis of the disease is the deficiency of the internal organs, deficiency of Qi and blood, deficiency of the spleen, deficiency of the middle energy, Qi deficiency and blood stasis as the basis, and dampness and heat as the symptoms. Externally, considering that the sore surface was huge, the rotting flesh was firmly attached and difficult to be removed, and the pus was thin, we used Qingliang oil emulsion and red oil cream to simmer the pus and dispel the rotting, and pulse and blood Kang capsule to dispel the stasis and resolve the rotting, and after the rotting flesh was loosened, we cooperated with sericulture to clear the wound to accelerate the process of decay. After the treatment, the rotting flesh on the sore surface was gradually removed, the redness of the skin around the sore subsided, and the swelling was reduced, so the heat-clearing and dampness-reducing products in the formula were reduced, and drugs for strengthening the spleen and resolving dampness were added as appropriate. After the decaying flesh on the sore surface was basically exhausted, the damp-heat evil was removed, and the deficiency and stasis were gradually revealed. Externally, we use blood circulation capsules to invigorate the blood and promote the growth of muscle, and Fuxing Huang to simmer the pus and grow flesh to accelerate the healing of the sore surface. In this way, the stage-by-stage treatment was based on the identification of the evidence, and both the symptoms and the root cause were treated, combining internal and external treatment, and combining local and systemic treatment, focusing on the flexible application of eliminating blood stasis and resolving decay, invigorating the blood and regenerating the muscle, simmering pus and eliminating decay, and simmering pus and growing flesh, which led to the rapid convergence of the huge chronic lower extremity ulcer in this case, with excellent results.