Acute Wound

By Lauren Lazarevski, RN, BSN, CWOCN

Up here in Western New York, we are still “digging out” – literally and metaphorically - from the historic blizzards and freezing temperatures that have hit our area. While we are no strangers to snow and subzero temperatures, the rapid deterioration seen in our recent storm posed a swift and formidable risk to the many residents who quickly found themselves stranded. Predictably, we still are seeing an increase in frostbite cases related to the weather event. I’ve summarized the guiding principles we’ve used to develop treatment guidelines for our patients suffering from the unfortunate effects of frostbite, but first, below is some background on this condition.

Acute wound: An alteration in skin integrity, such as a simple laceration or a surgical wound, that typically moves through the healing process and heals in a predictable timeframe without complication. An acute wound results from a documentable event with the assumption that it will progress normally through the 4 phases of wound healing.

By the WoundSource Editors

Debridement is the process of removing nonviable tissue and foreign objects (such as glass or shrapnel) from a wound bed to help the wound heal. Decaying tissue can trap bacteria and lead to a harmful infection such as gangrene, which is the death of body tissue resulting from a lack of appropriate blood flow or in response to a severe bacterial infection. Debridement is thus critical to effective wound management.

By Alex M. Aningalan, MSN, RN, CWON, WCC

Fellow wound care specialists may agree that interdisciplinary clinical teams often seek their expertise when a patient presents with a “chronic-appearing wound with an unknown or indeterminate etiology.” As in any other discipline, a comprehensive wound assessment begins with a thorough exploration of possible underlying etiologies—the main causative factors for wound development. Moreover, chronic, nonhealing wounds may warn clinicians to explore possible unaddressed underlying complex etiologies.

by the WoundSource Editors

Acute wound: Alteration in skin integrity such as a simple laceration or a surgical wound that moves normally through the healing process and heals in a predictable timeframe without complication.