Chinese expert consensus on wound repair of venous leg ulcers (2025 edition)

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) result from a multifactorial interplay of etiological factors, posing significant challenges in clinical management. Effective treatment requires a comprehensive assessment to identify the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms, followed by the implementation of an individualized, multidisciplinary approach that integrates the expertise of vascular surgeons, wound care specialists, and other pertinent healthcare professionals. Although both domestic and international vascular surgery societies, as well as other relevant specialties, have issued consensus statements on the diagnosis and treatment of VLUs or clinical guidelines for managing chronic lower extremity venous diseases, there remains a notable gap in systematic guidance specifically focused on wound repair for VLUs. In particular, standardized protocols for surgical wound repair are either lacking or insufficiently detailed in these documents. With the establishment and advancement of wound repair as a specialized field in China, Chinese experts have accumulated substantial clinical experience in the diagnosis and management of VLU-related wound healing. To standardize the surgical repair of VLUs and improve both therapeutic outcomes and patients' quality of life, the Wound Repair Professional Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association convened a panel of multidisciplinary experts for extensive deliberations. Based on a synthesis of current international and domestic evidence and clinical practice, the committee reached consensus on evidence-based recommendations for key issues in VLU wound management, including debridement techniques, indications, timing, and approaches to wound repair for VLUs. This consensus is intended to serve as a practical reference for clinicians involved in the care of patients with VLUs.