What are the dangers of chronic skin ulcers?

  Skin ulcers and wounds that have not healed for more than one month due to various physical diseases and different causes are called chronic ulcers or hard-to-heal wounds. Common causes include tumors, decubitus ulcers (pressure ulcers), post-surgery and burn injuries, radiation therapy for tumors and chemotherapy drug leakage, diabetes, vascular system diseases (saphenous varicose veins, vascular sclerosis, deep vein thrombosis, etc.), and neurological dysfunction due to various causes. The latter category is collectively referred to as dystrophic ulcers.  Chronic ulcers are caused by poor blood supply to the skin and soft tissues and reduced tissue growth capacity due to various factors. As the skin and soft tissues break down for a long time, the resistance to the outside world decreases, which easily causes infections as well as the destruction of deep bones, nerves and blood vessels. In addition to the patient’s own pain and the inconvenience of long-term medication changes, there is also the financial burden of long-term treatment. For the elderly and the chronically ill, as well as paraplegic and tumor patients, due to the decrease of the body’s resistance, it is easy to spread the infection in the local tissues, causing bacteraemia and causing life-threatening diseases. This is a direct cause of death, especially in elderly, frail or paraplegic patients.  Although there are numerous medications available to promote tissue healing, they are often ineffective because of the decreased healing capacity of the soft tissue surrounding chronic ulcer tissue. The most effective treatment beyond prevention remains surgery.  The application of surgical means to remove the undesirable tissue around the ulcer and then cover the wound with normal tissue allows for the shortest recovery time. Especially for tumor patients, removing the infectious factors from the body as soon as possible facilitates active follow-up treatment of the tumor. For other people it is also crucial to improve the quality of life effectively.