Lower Extremity Ulcers and the Rehab Therapist (#505)

Course overview

Course Level: Intermediate Item Number: 505 Special Notes: COURSE IS OFFERED ONLINE ONLY. Description With increasing life span, and increasing prevalence of diabetes and vascular disease, patients with leg ulcers are increasing both in overall numbers and as a proportion of the population. As a consequence, all healthcare providers, including physical therapists and occupational therapists and their assistants are more frequently seeing patients with leg and foot ulcers. It is important for therapists to understand the risks, causes, prevention, and treatment of leg ulcers. This knowledge will allow them to better understand the disorder, be vigilant for causative risk factors, enhance early detection of ulcer, be able to communicate successfully with other providers about the disorder, and directly treat the ulcer when appropriate. In this course, we present 4 basic types of complex lower extremity ulcers, including venous, arterial, neuropathic, and pressure ulcers. For each, the therapist will be able to define the disorder in medical terms, list risk factors, describe related symptoms and signs, apply criteria to make a diagnosis, understand how the disorder affects function, describe optimal therapies, and be able to communicate with other providers about the status of the disorder and how it affects the client’s functionality. A must course for those therapists working in the “over age 65” population!