Effect of Pycnogenol on the Healing of Venous Ulcers

Abstract

Venous ulcers are common complications of chronic venous insufficiency that result in severe physical and mental suffering to patients. The oral administration of diosmin/hesperidin has been used as adjuvant therapy in the treatment of chronic venous insufficiency. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the effect of pycnogenol and diosmin/hesperidin on the healing of venous ulcers. This longitudinal, prospective, randomized clinical trial was conducted with 30 adult patients with venous ulcers from a vascular surgery outpatient clinic of a university hospital. The patients were randomly allocated to 2 groups: Group 1 (n=15) was treated with pycnogenol (50mg orally, 3 times daily) and Group 2 (n=15) was treated with diosmin/hesperidin (450/50mg orally, twice daily). They were assessed every 15days for 90days. During follow-up visits, photo-documentation was obtained and the ulcer area and circumference of the affected limb were measured. Friedman's test and Mann-Whitney test were used to compare ulcer areas and circumference of affected limbs between and within groups at different time points. The level of significance was set at 5% (P<0.05) for all tests. Both the pycnogenol and diosmin/hesperidin treatments had a similar effect on the healing of venous ulcers and led to a significant decrease in the circumference of affected limbs (P<0.0001). The results suggest that pycnogenol has an adjuvant effect on the healing of venous ulcers, similar to diosmin/hesperidin.