Venous leg ulcers: Summary of new clinical practice guidelines published August 2014 in the Journal of Vascular Surgery

• The Society for Vascular Surgery and American Venous Forum jointly released new guidelines.
• Diagnosis and treatment guidelines are summarized for vascular nurses.
• Nurses are encouraged to read companion article on venous leg ulcers for a better understanding.

The Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) and the American Venous Forum (AVF) published guidelines for the management of venous leg ulcers in August 2014. The goal of this article (Part 2) is to summarize the guidelines that address diagnosis and treatment recommendations published jointly by the SVS and AVF that may affect the nursing practice of vascular nurses. Specific sections include wound evaluation, therapies used on the wound bed itself, compression, and operative or endovascular management. Part 1, published elsewhere in this issue, addressed the epidemiology and financial impact of ulcers, venous anatomy, pathophysiology of venous leg ulcer development, clinical manifestations, and prevention of venous leg ulcers. These 2 parts together provide a comprehensive summary of the joint SVS and AVF guidelines for care of venous leg ulcers.