[Conservative treatment of chronic venous insufficiency of the legs (I)].

Surgical treatment is applied to something between five and ten per cent of all patients with chronic venous diseases. Conservative treatment has proved to be justified for decompensated forms with venolymphatic insufficiency. Compression dressing is the mainstay of all measures of conservative treatment. Sufficiently high and high-stability working pressure is of decisive importance to its effectiveness. This requirement can be met best by Unna's paste dressing. The compression stocking is suitable for after-care and to a lesser extent for prophylaxis.