Clinical management of non-healing wounds
Intended for healthcare professionals
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Clinical management of non-healing wounds

Edwin Tapiwa Chamanga @edwin_chamanga Senior lecturer, Primary care and tissue viability, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George’s, University of London, London, England

Chronic wounds are defined as those that have failed to heal after three months. There are various intrinsic and extrinsic factors that may result in the development of chronic wounds, including comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus and venous insufficiency, and lifestyle factors such as obesity, alcohol consumption and smoking. Chronic wounds represent a significant burden on healthcare resources and can have a negative effect on patients’ quality of life. This article discusses the assessment and treatment of non-healing chronic wounds. It examines the normal wound-healing process and the management of chronic wounds, including advanced interventions such as electrical stimulation therapy, negative pressure wound therapy and various dressings. This article does not focus on specific wound types; instead, it provides an overview of the factors that can lead to the development of chronic wounds and how these wounds can be managed in clinical practice.

Nursing Standard. 32, 29, 48-63. doi: 10.7748/ns.2018.e10829

Correspondence

e.chamanga@sgul.kingston.ac.uk

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Conflict of interest

None declared

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Received: 09 February 2017

Accepted: 09 October 2017

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