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Terms to Know: Wound Bed Preparation

Practice Accelerator
June 30, 2021

Anoxia: A condition marked by the absence of oxygen reaching the tissues. It differs from hypoxia, in which there is a decrease in the oxygen levels to tissue.

Biocide tolerance: Demonstrating a tolerance to substances that destroy living things, such as bacteria. The initial stage in the life of biofilm can become biocide tolerant within 12 hours.

Calcium alginate: A water-insoluble, gelatinous substance that is highly absorbent. Dressings with calcium alginate can help to maintain a moist healing environment.

Dry gangrene: The condition in which a wound is contraindicated for moisture contribution. Dry gangrene can turn to wet gangrene and spread quickly.

Nitric oxide: A small radical, formed from the amino acid L-arginine by three distinct isoforms of nitric oxide synthase. It can regulate collagen formation, cell proliferation, and wound contraction when applied directly to a wound via a two-component gel dressing.

Normobaric oxygen therapy: A routine adjuvant oxygenation intervention supplied by nasal cannula or a facemask at normal atmospheric pressure.

Phagocytosis: The ingestion of bacterial or other material by phagocytes and amoeboid protozoans. The phagocyte uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle, thereby creating an internal compartment called a phagosome.

Polymerase chain reaction: A molecular test using DNA sequencing to report only the bacteria causing a problem in the wound bed, rather than all bacteria that are colonized.

Sucrose octasulfate: The potassium salt of sucrose octasulfate has been shown to inhibit matrix metalloproteases and interact with growth factors and restore their biological functions as a result of a high charge density. Dressings with sucrose octasulfate are statistically shown to progress toward or exhibit complete wound closure within 20 weeks.

Synergistic debridement: Combining more than one method of debridement to use together. Synergistic debridement can accelerate wound healing and reduce the quantity of necrotic debris built up between wound assessments. 

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of WoundSource, HMP Global, its affiliates, or subsidiary companies.