In each issue of
Wound Care Today
we investigate a hot topic currently
affecting our readers. In this issue...
H
ere is a challenge for you.
How many different types
of wound dressing can
you name without really thinking?
Foams, hydrogels, hydrocolloids,
superabsorbers, alginates, films,
silicone... the drug tariff list is
extensive. The list then drills down
into the different formulations of
dressings in each category — do
you want your dressing to be
adhesive, non-adhesive, bordered,
or antimicrobial? Then there are
Is dressing choice getting in the
way of patient care?
the different shapes on offer, sacral,
heel, circular, triangular or square?
Then comes size...
The last decade has been a
golden period for wound care
with more dressings and wound
technology available than ever
before. In addition to the traditional
dressings there are debridement
pads to remove slough; wound
checkers that can assess the
protease levels in a wound; and
negative pressure
wound therapy
(NPWT) to
encourage healing
and manage
exudate.
But, as
wonderful as it is
to have access to all
of this new wound
care technology
— sometimes too
much choice is
not necessarily a
good thing. The
problem with the
explosion of wound
technology is
whether clinicians
actually know
how to use it all?
Can you, hand on
heart, be confident
that you have
always chosen
the right product
or technique for
your patient, or
that there isn’t
something better
out there?
Similarly, are
you ever in danger of letting the
dressing do the thinking for you?
Although these products are great,
they can’t assess wound conditions
or tell you when they need to be
changed. In short, having the latest
dressing, doesn’t mean we can
absolve our clinical responsibility.
Take compression therapy,
for example, a difficult enough
procedure to get right and one
that already has a raft of different
6
WOUND CARE TODAY
2014,Vol 1, No 1
WOUND WATCH
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