Pain in patients with chronic leg and foot ulcers

PhD-project by Lena Leren.

In this project, we wish to explore the experience of pain as reported by persons with persistent leg and foot ulcers. Pain seems to be one of the most devastating aspects of living with a chronic ulcer. However, research is limited and there is a lack of understanding of the experience of wound pain. Little is known about the characteristics of wound related pain, such as prevalence, pain intensity, qualities, location, temporal fluctuations, impact on physical- and psychosocial functioning, as well as relieving and exacerbating factors. A specific assessment and precise pain characterization is essential in order to plan the most appropriate treatments. With a cross-sectional descriptive design, we seek to provide a better understanding of

  1. the prevalence of wound related pain,
  2. pain characteristics experienced by patients with persistent leg ulcers,
  3. the persistent wound related pain and
  4. degree of variation in the pain experience in patients with different etiology leg ulcers