Wounds have many different underlying causes: traumatic, infectious, ischemia (not enough blood flow), venous disease, etc. The vascular specialist will assess for the different causes, and come up with a clear plan to further workup the cause, if necessary, and to have a wound care plan in place to help encourage complete wound healing. This may require surgery to improve circulation, or debridement to remove unhealthy tissue.

Wounds take time to completely heal over, and proper wound care with adequate circulation helps promote that healing. Risk factors such as diabetes, smoking and edema (local swelling) all contribute to slower wound healing.