Wound Care Health Article

Definition

A wound is a disruption in the continuity of cells—anything that causes cells that would normally be connected to become separated. Wound healing is the restoration of that continuity. Several effects may result with the occurrence of a wound: immediate loss of all or part of organ functioning, sympathetic stress response, hemorrhage and blood clotting, bacterial contamination, and death of cells. The most important factor in minimizing these effects and promoting successful care is careful asepsis.

Description

A biological process, wound healing begins with trauma and ends with scar formation. There are two types of tissue injury: full and partial thickness. Partial thickness injury is limited to the epidermis and superficial dermis with no damage to the dermal blood vessels. Healing occurs by regeneration of epithelial tissue. Full thickness injury involves loss of the dermis and extends to deeper tissue layers and disrupts dermal blood vessels. Wound healing involves the synthesis of several types of tissue and scar formation.

The three phases of repair are lag, proliferative, and remodeling. Directly after injury, hemostasis is achieved with clot formation. The fibrin clot acts like a highway for the migration of cells into the wound site. Within the first four hours of injury, neutrophils begin to appear. These inflammatory cells kill microbes, and prevent the colonization of the wound. Next the monocyte, or macrophage, appears. Functions of these cells include the killing of microbes, the breakdown of wound debris, and the secretion of cytokines that initiate the proliferative phase of repair. Synthetic cells, or fibroblasts, proliferate and synthesize new connective tissue, replacing the transitional fibrin matrix. At this time, an efficient nutrient supply develops through the arborization (terminal branching) of adjacent blood vessels. This ingrowth of new blood vessels is called angiogenesis. This new very vascularized connective tissue is referred to as granulation tissue.

The first phase of repair is called the lag or inflammatory phase. The inflammatory response is dependent upon the depth and volume of tissue loss from the injury. Characteristics of the lag phase include acute inflammation and the initial appearance and infiltration of neutrophils. Neutrophils protect the host from microorganisms and infection. If inflammation is delayed or stopped, the wound becomes susceptible to infection and closure is delayed.

The proliferative phase is the second phase of repair and is anabolic in nature. The lag and remodeling phase are both catabolic processes. The proliferative phase generates granulation tissue. In this process, acute inflammation releases cytokines, promoting fibroblast infiltration of the wound site, then creating a high density of cells. Collagen is the major connective tissue protein produced and released by fibroblasts. The connective tissue physically supports the new blood vessels that form and endothelial cells promote ingrowth of new vessels. These new blood vessels are necessary to meet the nutritional needs of the wound healing process. The mark of wound closure is when a new epidermal cover seals the defect. The process of wound healing continues under-neath the new surface. This is the remodeling or maturation phase and is the third phase in healing.

The first principle of wound care is the removal of non-viable tissue including necrotic (dead) tissue, slough, foreign debris, and residual material from dressings. Removal of non-viable tissue is referred to as debridement; removal of foreign matter is referred to as cleansing. Chronic wounds are colonized with bacteria, but not necessarily infected. A wound is colonized when a limited number of bacteria are present in the wound and are of no consequence in the healing process. A wound is infected when the bacterial burden overwhelms the immune response of the host and bacteria grow unchecked. Clinical signs of infection are redness of the skin around the wound, purulent (pus-containing) drainage, foul odor, and edema.

The second principle is providing a moist environment. This has been shown to promote re-epitheliazation and healing. Exposing wounds to air dries the surface and may impede the healing process. Gauze dressings provide a moist environment as long as they are kept moist