The Role of Advanced Wound Care in Managing All Types of Wounds Effectively

Summary

Advanced wound care uses modern treatments such as debridement, NPWT, skin grafts, and biopsies to heal acute, chronic, and complex wounds effectively. These methods speed up recovery, prevent complications, and improve patient outcomes through personalized care.

A wound occurs when your skin or tissue is damaged, and the reason might be an injury, accident, or even a medical procedure that causes the skin to open up or get hurt.

For the most part, wounds heal quickly on their own. But the problem is that some wounds take extra time and demand more attention so that they don’t develop infections or other complications.

This is because wound healing is a complex process. A wound usually takes three stages to heal completely, such as hemostasis and inflammation, proliferation and maturation, and remodeling. Here, every stage is important and contributes to the success of wound repair.

But if this doesn’t work, advanced wound care comes as a rescue. The wounds are cared for in a way that they heal properly.

This blog talks about the role of advanced wound care in managing all types of wounds effectively.

What are the different types of wounds?

Different wound types are classified based on factors such as how the wounds have occurred, their depth, and whether or not they are infected. Broadly speaking, two fundamental divisions of wounds exist: open wounds and closed wounds.

In an open wound, the skin is damaged, and it exposes the underlying tissues that may bleed or pose a risk for infection. This is why they need proper cleaning to avoid infections.

Meanwhile, a closed wound doesn’t break the skin. Instead, the damage occurs underneath, like bruises or hematomas, where blood collects under the skin due to some trauma. Closed wounds are often monitored for internal issues.

Different types of wounds 

1. Acute wounds

This particular wound results from an unexpected external injury to the skin. On the positive side, this type of wound will heal within the expected timeframe with the right acute wound treatment. Acute injuries occur anywhere in the human body, and the extent of the injury depends on the degree of trauma caused to the individual’s blood vessels, muscles, and nerves. As open wounds can be classified as acute initially, if these do not resolve and remain for an extended period, they can be classified as chronic wounds.

2. Chronic wounds

A chronic wound is a wound type that takes time to treat and is longer than is normally expected. For instance, it will take not less than three months to heal. So, unlike a normal cut that heals by itself, chronic wounds do not easily close up. It’s caused by factors such as hypoperfusion, diabetes, or sustained ischemia in one region of the body. Chronic wound treatment involves advanced therapies like antimicrobial dressings and negative pressure wound therapy to promote healing and prevent infection, among other complications. Diabetic foot ulcers and pressure ulcers are well-known chronic wounds.

3. Traumatic wounds

Traumatic wounds can be regarded as a subgroup of acute wounds as they are caused by internal or external impacts to the body that are not merely onto the body surface and resist such impacts, such as is the case in vehicle accidents or cuts from sharp objects, falls, etc. Such wounds pose a challenge because they tend to be contaminated, are at risk for infection, and delay healing.

4. Surgical wounds

This also comes under acute wounds but can end up becoming chronic wounds if not managed properly. They are clean incisions or cuts made during a surgical procedure, and these cuts, as with most acute injuries, are expected to heal in several weeks or a month.

5. Arterial and venous ulcers

These are non-healing sores on the skin that occur due to a shortage of blood flow to the area. These ulcers are common in the legs and the feet. Arterial wounds have a punched-out shape and are round with clean-cut edges.

Meanwhile, venous wounds or ulcers are red and appear irregular in shape. Usually, the ulcer is shallow and devoid of pain except for the infection, though. This type of ulcer occurs when there is a decreased chance of blood returning to the heart, but the veins still have high blood pressure and result in blood leakage to the surrounding tissues, compromising the skin and leading to ulceration.

What is advanced wound care, and how does it help?

Advanced wound care is all about personalized treatments and going the extra mile to get the wound healed properly. Be it a chronic or acute wound that has failed to heal with simple dressing, it is treated. This means this care includes more than just applying bandages and antiseptics.

In the past, treatment for these types of wounds was old-school, which slowed the healing and cost a lot of effort, time, and discomfort too. But currently, practices have changed most due to technology and medical research, which has introduced more sophisticated and specialized methods.

On top of that, advanced wound care revolves around accuracy and treatment that is patient-centered. Imaging and lab tests, for instance, enable doctors to first assess a wound’s depth, seriousness, and underlying factors. Therefore, they can develop a specific treatment plan that is geared toward the healing process of the particular patient.

What is advanced wound care treatment in managing all types of wounds?

1.   Debridement

This is one of the most common procedures in advanced wound care where a healthcare professional removes the dead or infected tissue from a wound to promote healing. This includes dead tissue such as skin, bone, or muscle; slough such as soft tissue; dead material; bacteria layers; and poorly vascularized tissue.

The main goals of debridement are to reduce infection risk, facilitate quick healing, or do this to prepare the wound for advanced treatments by removing unwanted dead cells.

Types of debridement:

The wound care specialist might perform wound debridement in 4 different ways, such as:

1. Mechanical debridement involves the physical removal of the devitalized or infected tissue using wet-to-dry dressings, hydrotherapy, or wound irrigation.
2. In autolytic debridement, the natural enzymes of the body together with moisture-retentive dressings such as hydrocolloids are employed to act on and liquefy dead tissue. This way, the unwanted particles on the wound get removed.
3. Enzymatic debridement is where particular chemical agents (topical enzymes) are applied to the wound to break down and liquefy the gelatinous tissue. This treatment mostly suits deeper wounds that have a lot of necrotic or sloughy tissue.
4. Excisional debridement is also referred to as sharp debridement. In this method, dead tissues or tissues that are exceedingly infected are cut off using instruments such as scissors and a scalpel. Since it is an incision procedure, it is usually done in the clinic setting under local anesthesia.

2.   Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT)

Also known as vacuum-assisted closure (VAC), this treatment uses controlled negative pressure such as a vacuum to promote wound healing. It removes excess fluid, reduces swelling, and improves blood flow to the wound.

The steps involved in this therapy are:

1. First, sterile open-cell foam is applied to the wound to ensure that debris does not enter and block the suction device.
2. The wound is wrapped with a polyurethane occlusive dressing to make the seal airtight.
3. A pump is connected to the dressing to apply the negative pressure around the wound. The pump is adjusted to the strength and time of suction and if it is to be continuous or intermittent. After that, negative therapy is introduced.
4. This vacuum helps in the removal of fluids in excess and thus helps in the healing of the wound by stimulating tissue growth.

The patient receiving this treatment may experience a mild pulling feeling when the suction starts and it goes away fast. Dressings are normally changed two to three times weekly. And analgesics are sometimes prescribed before changes to curb pain.

3.   Bioengineered skin grafts

If a chronic wound fails to heal by itself, then a bioengineered skin graft, one of the advanced wound care treatments, is done. It is a biologically derived material that is used in place of damaged or missing skin.

These grafts are made from living cells or materials that mimic the actual structure and function of natural skin. Either the skin grafts are derived from human or non-human tissue. It’s used temporarily until the patient’s skin self-repairs or a proper skin replacement is obtained with a skin graft.

Some advantages of using bioengineered skin grafts are that the overall cost to heal the wound is reduced, they are biodegradable and they can conform to any wound surface.

Besides supporting wound healing, these grafts cut down the risk of infection and help restore the skin’s function and appearance.

4.   Wound biopsy

If you have a wound that isn’t healing properly or looks unusual, your doctor might recommend a wound biopsy. This procedure helps to determine the cause of the wound and is performed in the doctor’s clinic.

In this treatment, a small sample of tissue is taken from a wound for diagnostic purposes and to identify infections caused by bacteria, fungi, or other pathogens.

Next, a diagnosis for any underlying condition of this wound is made. For instance, diseases such as cancer or systemic conditions might affect wound healing.

Finally, the wound bed is assessed for dead tissue or signs of chronic inflammation.

The procedure is typically performed under local anesthesia and involves removing tissue from the wound edge or bed using a scalpel, punch tool, or needle. The sample is then sent to a lab for analysis, which guides further treatment plans.

Final Words

So, there you have it. Advanced wound care treatments play a huge role in treating all kinds of wounds. From acute injuries to stubborn chronic wounds that have stayed for a long time, these can be handled. With advanced wound care, you can speed up recovery, prevent unwanted complications like infections, and improve patient’s quality of life. If you are looking for expert wound care treatment to treat any type of wound, visit the Center for Advanced Wound Care, the best wound treatment center. With a comprehensive wound management program, our experts focus on tailoring their treatment to heal your wounds.