Treatment of hypertensive venous leg ulcers with nifedipine

The effect of nifedipine in the treatment of hypertensive venous leg ulcers was studied on 30 outpatients in a double-blind placebo-controlled trail over a period of 2 months. The dose of nifedipine or the matching placebo was 10 mg 3 times daily. Most of the subjective symptoms such as pain, paraesthesia and cramps at night considerably improved during the treatment with nifedipine and were slightly affected in the placebo group. The ulcer surface area decreased after 2 months treatment with nifedipine by 26.9% (p < 0.05), and after treatment with placebo by 8.6% (p > 0.05). An improvement of the photopletysmographic record of the lower legs in the nifedipine group was observed, demonstrated by an increase of the index recovery time (by 36.1%, p < 0.05), while there were no significant changes in the placebo group. The results show favorable effect of nifedipine in the treatment of hypertensive venous leg ulcers which might be due to a great extent to improvement of the subcutaneous circulation of the lower legs. Nifedipine may be an important adjunct to the conservative management of the complications caused by chronic venous insufficiency and hypertension.