Upcoming Webinars

The COVID-19 outbreak and ensuing pandemic have changed the way wound care professionals treat and serve their patients.

Debridement is an essential part of wound therapy that allows the transition to subsequent therapies in order to promote healing. Whether the goal is granulation tissue formation, epithelialization for wound closure, or to establish enough healing progression to create an adequate wound to allow for surgical closure, debridement is the cornerstone to wound progress, and if not performed will be an impediment to wound progress.

Intertrigo, sometimes called intertriginous dermatitis, is a form of moisture-associated dermatitis that results from prolonged exposure to perspiration in skin folds and areas beneath medical devices. Clinicians caring for patients with intertrigo need something that will treat all causative factors and prevent the condition from worsening. InterDry's moisture wicking technology and antimicrobial silver is designed to keep skin dry and infection free, helping your patients to heal.

The presence of high levels of bacteria hinders wound closure and contributes to delayed healing. Identification and management of bacterial load in acute and chronic wounds is challenging, yet is critical to optimize treatment outcomes. While clinicians assess clinical signs and symptoms of infection in the wound as a proxy for bacterial burden, the variability of these signs and symptoms hinders timely intervention to treat bacteria in wounds. Objective, real-time information on the presence of bacteria in wounds has been lacking until now.

The Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders presents a roundtable discussion with front line experts as they discuss the challenges and opportunities clinicians now face during this COVID-19 crisis. This pandemic has driven significant change in the health care system disrupting- indeed transforming- wound care practice. We have brought together the multidisciplinary team of wound care- physicians, nurses, podiatrists and physical therapists to address these issues in their practices.

Chronic DFUs are some of the most difficult wounds a clinician can face. It is therefore important to understand the care and interventions that patients with these wounds often need. Clinicians who encounter DFUs in their practice will find this presentation instructive because it demonstrates ways to encourage healing and prevent chronicity in DFUs.

Given the current global situation with COVID-19, many health care providers have had to make changes with how they deliver care in order to protect themselves and their patients from exposure to the virus. To help with this, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has broadened access to Medicare telehealth services so that beneficiaries can receive a wider range of services from their doctors without having to travel to a health care facility. What does this mean for wound care providers?

During this presentation you will briefly learn about the Smith+Nephew PICO™ single-use NPWT device for wound management.

Avoiding chronicity is the goal of wound care professionals everywhere but doing so is rarely easy and not always possible. Understanding the underlying pathologies that led to wound development is a good starting point; however, resolving those issues can lead to the progression of wound healing.

When managing wounds, whether chronic or acute, health care professionals need to select dressings and devices that will help promote good outcomes for the patient.

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) affect between 1% and 3% of the total US population and are especially prevalent in older adults. These wounds can be difficult to treat and often have high associated costs, as well as high recurrence rates.

Infection control and prevention have always been vital components of wound care, but with antimicrobial resistance on the rise, finding treatments that do not contribute to resistance has become more important than ever. In an effort to combat antimicrobial resistance, many health care professionals have been looking for alternative methods of treating infections.

Wound infections can result in delayed healing, as well as increased pain and distress to patients and their families. If left untreated, these infections may even lead to death. Organisms are becoming increasingly difficult to treat because of antibiotic resistance. Wound infections can also be costly to treat.

Hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPUs) are a challenge for acute and post-acute care environments and are listed as a hospital-acquired condition by CMS. While other hospital-acquired conditions have seen a decrease in prevalence over the past decade, HAPUs are the only one that have not had a decrease in their prevalence.

In 2020, outpatient wound clinics must have an antibiotic stewardship program in place. Preventing infection in surgical wounds is vital for positive patient outcomes; however, the diagnosis of moderate to heavy bacterial load in surgical wounds is problematic: clinical signs and symptoms and cultures can be inaccurate.

In preventing the occurrence of pressure injuries, it is important to consider all entry points into a hospital in which a patient receives care. Although patients are occasionally admitted directly to a unit, the majority enter through the emergency department.

The number of people with diabetes mellitus (DM) has increased dramatically over the years. DM is a serious, life-long condition that is the seventh leading cause of death in North America. The presence of a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) increases the likelihood of mortality over a five to 10-year period.

In wound healing, selecting the correct wound dressing can make all the difference for patient outcomes. An ideal wound dressing will manage moisture while maintaining a moist wound environment, prevent infection, conform to the wound bed and minimize pain during dressing changes.

Complex wounds create a challenge to both the health care team and the patients and families that struggle with them. The amount of care required to overcome the complicating factors of these wounds creates a large economic and labor burden on the health care system.

Patients with wounds present to multiple health care providers across a multitude of practice settings. It is vital for all health care providers who encounter wounds to have an understanding of wound bed preparation. This program will describe work that has been done to expand on existing models of wound bed preparation using a step-wise method in a practical approach to incorporate into day-to-day practice.