A practical framework for wound assessment. 1: Physiology

Abstract

Wound assessment offers practitioners a framework upon which to base clinical decisions aimed at maximizing healing potential. It relies heavily on basic observational skills to detect often subtle differences between a healing and non-healing wound and focuses on the difficulties in identifying clinical signs of wound infection. Part one of this paper relates the physiological process of healing to the practical skill of wound assessment so that appropriate management objectives can be implemented and evaluated. In the second part, wound classification models are reviewed, together with practical methods of wound measurement and suggestions for improving the quality of wound management documentation.