FASAVA Congress 2017

A discussion on wound assessment and decision making for wound management.
Wounds may occur in many different scenarios in clinical practice and the steps involved in initial patient and wound management will vary considerably. Wounds need to be evaluated as part of a whole patient assessment. Initially, wound cleansing is performed along with application of a temporary wound dressing. Lavage is a very important component in the establishment of a healthy, clean wound. The choice of lavage fluid is an important consideration which will be discussed. Debridement is the process of removing devitalised tissue to convert the wound into one which is clean and sufficiently viable in order to achieve healing. The importance, timing and strategies for debridement of wounds is discussed. Dressings play an important role in the management of the open wound. They protect the wound from desiccation, self-trauma and environmental pathogens and contaminants, as well as providing greater support and warmth to the healing tissues.  They also play a role in debridement and management wound exudates. The choice of dressings for the various stages of healing is an important consideration. A controversial and often misused treatment in the management of open wounds is the use of antimicrobial agents. Appropriate use of these agents will be discussed.