Wound care Facebook friends from across the globe posted reports of their experiences at the Spring Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) meeting in San Diego. Social media pronounced the meeting a huge success in hundreds of selfies, videos, and shots of the stage and the Gas Lamp district. In this month’s blog, I share my personal take on the nation’s largest wound care conference.

The Wound Healing Society (WHS) lectures begin before the full conference gets underway. I hopped into a couple of lectures before the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC) board meeting demanded my presence. The science of wound healing features an ever-increasing cadre of cytokine acronyms, cellular processes, and ways to study them. Truly, the scientific advances in wound care are astonishing.

Unifying the Voice of Wound Care Professionals

The AAWC has become one of the largest (approximately 2,500 members) and most influential society in the wound care space. We are clearly approaching the point at which our society will speak, with one voice, on behalf of everyone involved in caring for the wounded. In addition to all the member benefits, the clinical trial end-point initiative marches forward in collaboration with the WHS. I am confident that we will soon have end points other than complete wound closure. A Pressure Ulcer Summit planned for later this year will bring together experts to develop a new assessment tool for staging pressure ulcers. The diligence and persistence of the AAWC has made the international consensus on guidelines a reality.

Following a poignant keynote lecture by patient and advocate, Allison Massori, the lectures kicked into high gear. My only regret was that I could not attend them all. The exhibit hall proved as interesting and informative as ever. The multiple camera-based wound assessment tools caught my attention. The technology has become more advanced and more affordable. The acquisition of NuTech by Organogenesis also created a great deal of interest.

Again, this year the meetings and conversation in the convention center hallways and restaurants of downtown San Diego proved to be an integral part of the annual conference. What we share at the meeting is equally important as what we hear.

Congratulations to all the dedicated individuals, companies, and societies who made this conference a significant success. The future of wound care is bright! If wounds are your passion, consider joining the AAWC and contribute to this advancing field. Attend an upcoming conference—the SAWC fall meeting is in Las Vegas, and next year’s spring meeting is in Charlotte.

About The Author
Dr. Thomas Serena has published more than 75 peer-reviewed papers and has made in excess of 200 presentations worldwide. He has been elected to the Board of Directors of both The Wound Healing Society and the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (ACHM), the leading academic society in the field of Hyperbaric Medicine. In 2013 Dr. Serena was elected vice president of the American Professional Wound Care Association (APWCA) is currently the president-elect of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC). Dr. Serena has opened and operates Wound Care and hyperbaric oxygen treatment clinics across the United States.