Franek 2006.

Methods	Randomised trial in different hospitals in Poland
Participants	92 people with venous leg ulcers presenting symptoms of chronic venous insufficiency, some had varicose veins and symptoms of postthrombotic syndrome. ABPI > 0.8 Exclusion criteria: presence of diabetes or atherosclerosis Number of male: female participants: Electrostimulation group: 8:18; Laser therapy group: 4:17; US group: 4:11; Compression + pharmacological agents: 3:21 Mean (range) participant age in years: Electrostimulation group: 69.8 (48‐90); Laser therapy group: 65.2 (44‐80); US group: 63.6 (37‐82); Compression + pharmacological agents: 67 (43‐86) Mean (range) initial ulcer area in cm2: Electrostimulation group: 17.6 (2.6‐65.8); Laser therapy group: 15.8 (0.5‐59.6); US group: 15.6 (0.4‐84.7); Compression + pharmacological agents: 17.3 (1.9‐84) Mean (range) ulcer duration in months/years: Electrostimulation group: 4.5 years (2 months‐12 years); Laser therapy group: 3.5 years (2 months‐24 years); US group: 1.7 years (3 months‐8 years); Compression + pharmacological agents: 2.7 years (3 months‐11 years)
Interventions	All groups received compression therapy, bandages were removed for purposes of physical therapy and then put back on. Electrostimulation group: 50‐minute session once daily, for 6 consecutive days, for a total of 4 weeks total (2 weeks katodic and 2 weeks anodic stimulation), NaCl 0.9% locally (no further details provided) Laser therapy group: 65 mW laser therapy session once daily, for 5 consecutive days, the duration of each session depended on the size of ulceration area – device was set up to develop 4 J/cm2 on average power 65 mW, various pharmacological agents applied locally, for a total of 4 weeks US group: 0.5 W/cm2 once daily, duration of each session depended on the size of ulceration area: 5 minutes of therapy given for 5 cm2 ulcer, 1 additional minute of therapy given for each additional 1 cm2 of ulceration area, for a total of 4 weeks, NaCl 0.9% locally Compression (no further details provided) plus pharmacological agents: compression and local application of collistin (no further details provided), chloramphenicol, gentamycin, fibrolan, potassium permanganate, copper sulphate, according to medical indications, no phlebotropic drugs), for a total of 4 weeks
Outcomes	Changes in the area, length, width and volume of the tissue defect after above physical therapies
Notes	No withdrawals reported. Duration of follow‐up: 4 weeks
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	From translator: "... random assignment ... " Comment: no randomisation method specified. Authors did not state whether participants were randomized before or after surgery.
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	No details provided.
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	No details provided.
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	No details provided.
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) Ulcer healing	Unclear risk	No report of withdrawals, and not clear from report whether all participants were included in the analyses.
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	Unclear risk	No details provided.
Other bias	Unclear risk	No details provided.