Toe bandaging for lymphoedema and venous ulceration

Abstract

Lymphoedema and chronic venous insufficiency with venous leg ulceration have long been viewed as distinctly separate entities. This article explores how toe bandaging, a skill used routinely in lymphoedema practice, might benefit people being bandaged to treat venous leg ulcers. A small research study identified that 12 out of 124 people receiving high compression bandaging for venous leg ulcers without toe bandaging developed toe ulceration during a 2-year period. A second study has found no episodes of toe ulceration in patients receiving toe bandaging as part of their care. Unfortunately, there was significant heterogeneity between the two trials in terms of the client group, duration of bandaging and bandaging techniques, meaning that firm conclusions could not be extrapolated. A brief discussion of the pathophysiology and bandaging techniques used for lymphoedema and venous leg ulcers is used in this article to try and explore the rationale behind whether to bandage the toes or not, and to try and help practitioners decide whether toe bandaging should become part of all compression bandaging regimens.