Leg ulcer treatment in hospital and primary care in Sweden: cost-effective care and quality of life.

Because of significant reductions in the Swedish health care budget, the trend in the Swedish health care service is to move patients with leg ulcers out of hospitals and into primary care or community home care. This study compares the costs for a 6-week treatment of patients with leg ulcers in primary care. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment groups--wet-to-dry saline gauze dressings changed twice a day or a hydrocolloid dressing (HCD) DuoDERM changed when needed or once a week. A variety of costs, including travel costs for the nurses, time for dressing changes, and material (including ancillary items) were compared.