A new adjunctive Tx option for venous stasis ulcers

The study by Evangelista et al¹ was performed in a select population, and the exclusion criteria included the use of some commonly prescribed medications, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. No data were collected on patient body mass index, which is a risk factor for delayed healing. The prevalence of obesity is lower in the Philippines than in the United States, and it is uncertain what role this difference would have in the statin’s effectiveness. Further studies, especially those conducted with a less selective population, would better clarify the generalizability of this intervention.

We found the results of this study impressive. The methods reported are rigorous and consistent with standard RCT methodologies. This is the only study of a statin in human venous stasis disease, but studies in animals—and studies of statins for other types of ulcers in humans—have consistently suggested benefit. It seems hard to argue against adding this low-cost, low-risk intervention.

CHALLENGES TO IMPLEMENTATION

There are no known barriers to implementing this practice.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The PURLs Surveillance System was supported in part by Grant Number UL1RR024999 from the National Center For Research Resources, a Clinical Translational Science Award to the University of Chicago. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Center For Research Resources or the National Institutes of Health.