the question i would have,is whether the idea of casting a patient with an ischemic ulcer via total contact casting within the parameters of standard of care.ischemic ulcers by their nature tend to become infected and necrotic rather easily.how would one be able to monitor such changes within a contact cast?
I agree with PodRick. How would you be able to monitor the wound?.
I think that the only benefice is that the patient is urge not to walk and therefore doesn't apply charges to the foot.
My experience with casting is we change the casts every week to 10 days, debride the wound and redress with very absorbant dressings as appropriate.
Casting dramatically reduces the amount of exudate produced almost immediately, possibly due to the reduction of localised oedema.
This is turn helps control the development of infection: no bugs can get in there!
Our only problem has been with obese patients who break the casts and need to be reviewed more often.
It really does work if the cast is applied appropriately, and the results are dramatic for wound healing.
We don't use casts on infected wounds and would swab to exclude this before applying the cast.
ERP