How To Build Solid Foundations to Support the Treatment and Management of Chronic Wounds: A Clinician's Guide Editorial Summary Expanding upon the well-established TIME wound bed preparation protocol, M.O.I.S.T., an enhanced educational model designed by Wund-DACH researchers empowers healthcare practitioners to make well-informed and balanced decisions in the topical treatment of chronic wounds. Serving as a reference tool, the model advocates for a systematic and harmonized approach to wound care, thereby bolstering the practitioners' confidence in their treatment choices. Comprising 5 essential factors (Moisture, Oxygen, Infection, Support, and Tissue), the model offers a comprehensive framework that allows practitioners to adapt to the individual patient's requirements, elevating wound care practices to new levels of effectiveness and patient-centered care.
Introduction
W
ound care is a complex therapy area, with many variables impacting on the process of wound healing. Often, patients present with multiple co-morbidities that can directly or indirectly affect wound healing. Chronic wounds are, by their nature, wounds which take a longer time to heal. These include diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), pressure ulcers/injuries (PI/Us), leg ulcers of different etiologies, and burns. These wounds are open areas or lesions which may present with significant tissue loss and contain a range of tissue types, spanning from healthy appearing granulation tissue to necrotic tissue and slough. Additionally these wounds frequently produce excessive levels of exudate which can negatively affect the wound and the surrounding skin. Chronic wounds can also be painful, malodorous, debilitating, and are often responsible for directly affecting the quality of life of the patient. This is not only a burden for the patient, but also for their families and carers.
Mr John Timmons International Medical Director, Mölnlycke Glasgow, United Kingdom
The financial burden of wounds within many health care systems may go relatively unrecognised due to the complex nature of the problem, lack of a unified approach, and the associated comorbidities.1
Assoc Prof Matthew Malone
Prof Dr Joachim Dissemond
Principle Scientist, R&D Bioactives and Wound Biology & Conjoint A. Professor Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University
Clinic for Dermatology, University Hospital Essen Essen, Germany
Macclesfield, United Kingdom
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Wound Masterclass - Vol 2 - December 2023
A leading health economist in the United Kingdom has managed to successfully model the true financial cost of wound care in the National Health Service (NHS) and has found that the cost of wound care continues to grow despite advances in wound care knowledge and available technology. Some would argue that this technology has not yet made a significant impact on the delivery of care. In one of the latest of these studies, Guest et al. (2017) suggest that wound care is often within a non-specialist environment and that this can in some cases lead to extended healing times with care episodes not being optimized. There is also significant pressure in many markets related to the cost of wound dressings despite little proof that the price of dressings is the root cause of care expense. In fact, Guest et al. have calculated that the cost of wound dressings is
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