Use of Doppler ultrasound in assessing leg ulcers

Anderson, Irene

Irene Anderson is senior lecturer in tissue viability, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield. Email: [email protected]

Date of acceptance: April 10 2007.

These keywords are based on the subject headings from the British Nursing Index. This article has been subject to double-blind review. For author and research article guidelines visit the Nursing Standard home page at www.nursing-standard.co.uk. For related articles visit our online archive and search using the keywords.

Nursing Standard 21(47):p 50-56, August 1, 2007.

Summary

This article outlines the use of a hand-held Doppler ultrasound device as an aid in the assessment of patients with active and healed leg ulcers. It describes the benefits and limitations of Doppler assessment, the steps of the procedure, how to calculate the ankle-brachial pressure index accurately and how to recognise the significance of the findings.