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Debridement is a core component of chronic wound management. Although various debridement methods exist, each carries a unique patient risk level. This article discusses the different normal tissue components that are critical to safe debridement practice, various methods of wound debridement for nurses, and the importance of an interprofessional team and consulting a wound specialist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wound bed preparation is the management of a wound in order to optimise healing and/or facilitate other therapeutic measures. It is the most pivotal step in healing wounds. Early referral to a specialist wound clinic can markedly improve the wound healing process. This overview will discuss the techniques involved in the preparation of the wound bed that will effectively accelerate the healing process. The process begins with a correct diagnosis of the wound and optimising the patient's medical condition. The TIMERS framework is discussed. Wound dressings, including the use of negative-pressure wound therapy, are discussed, along with debridement techniques and agents. The timing of wound intervention and evaluating progress will also be discussed, and wound bed preparation strategies will be included. There has been an added challenge of wound care in the community as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The present article provides an overview of how to prepare a wound bed in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most acute wounds will heal with good topical care. However, some wounds, especially chronic ones occurring in impaired hosts, are more problematic. To properly manage these types of wounds and optimize healing, there should be an evidence-based approach to wound care in the emergency department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mechanisms for military injury have evolved in the past century. Debridement is the gold standard for preparing a clean wound bed, decreasing the bacterial load, and reducing the likelihood of infection. However, bacteria may continue to linger in these wounds. The MolecuLight i:X Imaging Device uses the principle of autofluorescence to detect bacteria under violet light. Thus, visualizing bacteria will not only guide clinicians in their management of the wound but it will also serve as a means of evaluating debridement efforts. We hope to improve traumatic wound management by targeting debridement and assessing its quality.Methods: We describe the use of the MolecuLight i:X to photograph wounds under standard and violet light in three patients. Images were captured before and after debridement. Microbiology swabs were collected to correlate the bacteria found in the images to the wounds.Results: The post-debridement images demonstrate a marked decrease or complete removal of bacteria. The microbiology swabs confirmed the pre-debridement presence of bacteria.Conclusions: The MolecuLight i:X shows promise for debridement evaluation. The use of the MolecuLight i:X may reduce the likelihood of infection, thus having positive implications for military and trauma wounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Commercially produced sterile green bottle fly Lucilia sericata maggots are successfully employed by practitioners worldwide to clean a multitude of chronic necrotic wounds and reduce wound bacterial burdens during maggot debridement therapy (MDT). Secretions from the maggots exhibit antimicrobial activity along with other activities beneficial for wound healing. With the rise of multidrug-resistant bacteria, new approaches to identifying the active compounds responsible for the antimicrobial activity within this treatment are imperative. Therefore, the aim of this study was to use a novel approach to investigate the output of secreted proteins from the maggots under conditions mimicking clinical treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Clinicians involved in the conservative care of chronic wounds have many treatment interventions from which to choose, including debridement/irrigation, dressings and pressure-relieving devices, to name a few. All are physical treatments that create an ideal wound healing environment. Unfortunately, many wounds heal very slowly, do not heal, or worsen. This situation relates to the woman in this case study who had a non-healing leg ulcer for 12 months. One of the interventions commonly used to treat chronic wounds is bio-electrical stimulation therapy (BEST), and the rationale for use of this method is based on the fact that the human body has an endogenous bioelectric system that enhances healing of bone fractures and soft-tissue wounds. When the body's endogenous bioelectric system fails and cannot contribute to wound repair processes, therapeutic levels of electrical current may be delivered into the wound tissue from an external source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]