The observational longitudinal study will collect wound exudate from twenty patients with venous leg ulcers. Wound exudate samples are collected using twenty-four-hour collection with polyurethane foam, bandages and the NovaSwab method. Each patient is seen four times where wound exudate and the bacteria microbiome are sampled and wound size is monitored with advanced planimetric tools.

This dual centre longitudinal observational study will run from January 2024 to January 2025. The investigation will include twenty patients over four weeks including four study visits. Sampling of wound exudate can take place on every visit and will be made with the polyurethane discs, the NovaSwab technique and waste bandages. The wound bacteria microbiome is sampled with routine bacterial swabs. Tape strips will be used to assess perilesional skin and control sites of normal skin and will primarily measure skin inflammation parameters. Clinical pictures are taken and analysed using advanced planimetric tools. Patients enrolled receive standard wound care; allowing all kinds of dressing. However when consenting to twenty-four-hour-collection patients will not be allowed to wear active bandages or receive antibiotic treatment for that period. Compression, wound dressings, and use of topical and oral antibiotics will be registered. For the storage of samples, a research biobank is used, and leftover material will be stored in a biobank for future research.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults fulfilling all inclusion criteria
• Age >18 years
• Venous leg ulcer diagnosis and classic characteristics (localisation, varicose veins, brown-orange hyperpigmentation, leg oedema, stasis dermatitis, atrophie blanche or lipodermatosclerosis) verified by a wound expert (if in doubt venous doppler will be used for verification)
• Wound Area equal to or above 1 cm2 (measured with a ruler length x width)
• Patient can understand Danish
• Patient can comply with protocol
• Patient is fully informed about the study and has given informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Venous leg ulcer with communication to bone
• Known or suspected cancer in the wound
• Allergies towards products used in the study, e.g. polyurethane foam and tegaderm
• Dementia
• Judgement by the investigator that the patient is not suited for study participation

Twenty patients with venous leg ulcers, verified by a wound expert, will be included in this study.

Individual patient data can be shared anonymized upon contact with PI, after publication of primary results.

Data will be avaible after publication of primary results.

Access upon request via email to Principal Investigator.