MELISSA TEO SURGERY &
THE SURGICAL ONCOLOGY CLINIC
COMPLEX WOUNDS
Complex wounds is a term that is used to group generally-known difficult wounds, either chronic or acute. This means that simple, or conventional, dressing is insufficient to heal such wounds.
HOW TO DIAGNOSE?
Complex wounds typically have factors such as:
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Inability to heal within three months
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Infection
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Compromised viability of superficial tissues, necrosis, or impaired circulation
WHAT CAUSES IT TO OCCUR?
Some of the risk factors that causes complex wounds are infection, skin loss or severe burns, chronicity and comorbidities, and the development of other wound-related conditions.
Infection
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Whenever there is a wound, there will always be a slight chance of infection. If the patient suffers from other conditions like diabetes, malnutrition, edema and others, the likelihood of infection increases. It may also happen if the environment around the wound is unsanitary. The presence of infection will disrupt the wound-healing process and until it is treated, the wound will continue to persist.
TREATMENT
Depending on the type of complex wound, various treatments may be used.
The most commonly used one would be antibiotics, to treat infection.
Other treatment methods may be Negative Pressure Wound Therapy, also known as Vacuum-Assisted Wound Closure. This uses a special device and special bandages to create a sealed environment for the vacuum pump to collect fluids from the wound. This therapy can help your wound heal quicker and minimise infections.