Abstract

Afreen Fatima*, Mamatha K. R., Sidra Shireen Zainuddin and Mudassir Shoeb

ABSTRACT

Introduction: A chronic leg ulcer (CLU) is a break in continuity of skin below level of knee persisting for more than six weeks. They are a major health problem affecting principally the elderly, with major risk factors being diabetes, smoking and obesity. There are three main types of ulcers, neuropathic, venous or arterial. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate efficacy and safety of drugs used in chronic leg ulcers using WHO/INRUD prescribing indicators. Materials and method: This was a prospective observational study, carried out in department of surgery at Victoria hospital, Bengaluru. Prescription pattern of 200 patients with chronic leg ulcer admitted to surgery ward was analysed using WHO prescribing indicators. Results: Out of 200 prescriptions analyzed, most common leg ulcers was diabetic (38%), followed by venous (24%) and arterial (18%). WHO prescribing indicators used for evaluating drug use, showed average number of drugs per prescription as 7, percentage of antimicrobials prescribed as 27.4%, percentage of injections prescribed as 64.5%, number of drugs prescribed from NLEM was 906 and number of drugs prescribed by generic name was 512. Percentage of antimicrobials prescribed by generic name was 46.3% and average duration of antimicrobials was 7 days. Outcome was assessed in terms of clinical cure, surgery, minor and major amputation. Out of 200 patients, 162 achieved clinical cure which was assessed using LUMT score. Conclusion: In this study, pharmacotherapy along with topical management of leg ulcer has achieved a clinical cure of 81% as assessed by LUMT score. All drugs used during pharmacotherapy were well tolerated.