Christine Murphy and her colleagues have recently published a new international consensus document which addresses the concept of wound hygiene for hard-to-heal wounds. The presumption is that the majority of stalled wounds will contain biofilm. It is suggested that disrupting biofilms via aggressive wound cleansing
An estimated 93% of all those who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition in the UK are living in the community. Most of the at risk population are older people, people on low incomes, those who are socially isolated, individuals with chronic disorders and persons
Most clinicians and patients expect their cutaneous wounds to heal - which is fine, until they don’t. Spruijt et al recently reported on complex wounds which were receiving expert care by specialist wound practitioners in Europe. The wound aetiologies treated included diabetic ulcers, osteomyelitis, wounds
Robyn Bjork and Suzie Ehmann recently wrote a clinical guidance document on compression and the lower limb. Their document has many points of interest about oedema aetiology and the determination of appropriate therapy. Just a few highlights are : 1. “All oedema is technically lymphoedema,
Brindle & Farmer recently discussed the concept of combining wound bed preparation with “undisturbed wound healing”. The notion being that impediments to wound repair such as devitalised tissue, infection, unresolved inflammation and inappropriate exudate, are treated and then as the wound enters a proliferative or
Thank you to Lipoedema Australia for this very helpful differential diagnosis chart.
Individuals who achieve closure of a venous leg ulcer but who then receive no ongoing therapy afterwards are subject to recurrence rates as high as 76% within the first year post treatment. Interventions available to reduce these recurrence rates include endovenous sclerotherapy, endovenous ablation, venous
Most hard to heal wounds owe their origins to either repeated tissue injury, ischaemia or bioburden (or a combination of all three). Prof G Schultz 2018 at the 4th International Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention conference, Las Vegas USA.
Dr Dianne Smith recently wrote about the skin care challenges that individuals face when receiving radiation therapy. Around 95% of people who have radiation will experience an inflammatory skin reaction. Dr Smith states that “skin affected by radiotherapy has a tendency to dryness due to
Not everyone has a satisfactory resolution to a surgically induced wound. Excessive scaring or hypertrophic scar formation is not uncommon. The role of the epidermis in the final stage of skin healing (scar tissue development) is significant. Mustoe & Gurjala discuss research which recommends that