J Korean Soc Plast Reconstr Surg.  2006 Jan;33(1):116-119.

Treatment of Chronic Wound in a Patient with Systemic Vasculitis

• Lim JS
• Kim HJ
• Joo HS
• Choi YS

Abstract

Management of chronic wound has been a great problem to many surgeons because the wound is usually associated with an underlying disease of the patient. Without accurate diagnosis and treatment of the disease, the wound can not be healed. Systemic vasculitis is a rare systemic disease which causes inflammation and obstruction of the vessels. This autoimmune disease involves multiple organs and may inflict skin wound spontaneously without traumas. It would improve or aggravate the wound in proportion to the activities of the disease. Our experience is a case of 28-year-old female who has had chronic ulcers on her right foot, especially on the great toe for 1 year. Although she had several operations of sympathectomy, debridement and artificial dermal graft, her wound was not improved. She has been diagnosed as systemic vasculitis during the evaluation for histopathology and cause of fever and pancytopenia. After medical treatments, she had the operation of adipofascial turnover flap coverage and skin graft, and the wound was improved without any complication or relapse. The diagnosis and treatment of the underlying disease should be ahead of the management of chronic wound.

Keyword

Chronic wound; Systemic vasculitis; Corticosteroid; Immunoglobulin

MeSH Terms

Adult
Autoimmune Diseases
Debridement
Diagnosis
Female
Fever
Foot
Humans
Immunoglobulins
Inflammation
Pancytopenia
Recurrence
Skin
Sympathectomy
Systemic Vasculitis*
Toes
Transplants
Ulcer
Wounds and Injuries*
Immunoglobulins