A case of recurrent foot ulcers

A 74-year-old woman presented intractable and recurrent ulcers on her left foot. Her concurrent complications were diabetes mellitus, chronic cardiac failure, hypertension and peripheral arterial disease. The patient also had a history of cerebral infarction and venous ulcers. The patient spent the majority of the day seated in a wheelchair with her legs lowered. The ulcers healed completely by treating the peripheral arterial disease with topical measures. However, after her discharge, similar ulcers recurred, and she was hospitalized three times. During her hospitalization, we noticed that she sat down in her wheelchair only during position with/without elevated legs as much as possible. Since that time, her foot ulcers have never recurred. We conclude that leg positioning was very important in this case.