Key Terms
- angiogenesis
- creation of new blood vessels
- approximated
- brought close together, as in the case of wounds with sealed, clean edges
- autolytic debridement
- process of using the body’s intrinsic debriding mechanism to remove nonviable tissue
- avascular
- lacking blood vessels
- biological debridement
- use of sterile bottle fly larvae to remove nonviable tissue; also known as maggot larval therapy (MT)
- Braden Scale
- risk assessment tool with six criteria for determining the risk of skin breakdown
- comprehensive wound assessment
- complete, holistic, written, and visual record of the wound’s current status and progress
- dehiscence
- separation of the edges of a surgical wound
- dermal-epidermal junction
- barrier between the epidermis and the dermis, which ensures strong resistance to physical stress
- desiccation
- excessive dryness in the periwound
- enzymatic debridement
- selective method of debridement that uses an exogenous enzyme known as collagenase; also known as chemical debridement
- epibole
- severely rolled wound edges
- epithelialization
- regeneration of the epidermis and the formation of granulation tissue
- full-thickness wound
- injury extending through all skin layers, potentially involving muscle, fascia, or bone
- granulation tissue
- new connective tissue with fragile, thin-walled capillaries
- hematoma
- area of blood that collects outside large blood vessels
- hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)
- therapy in which patients breathe pure oxygen in a pressurized environment to help wound progression and healing
- hypergranulation
- excess granulation tissue filling the wound bed beyond the height of the surface of the wound
- hypodermis
- layer of fat and connective tissue that links skin to the underlying structures
- inflammation
- second phase of wound healing, characterized by the movement of white blood cells to the wound bed
- keratinocyte
- cell that participates in the contraction and migration of cells across a wound bed to facilitate healing
- maceration
- excessive presence of moisture in the periwound, which affects the integrity of the surrounding skin
- mechanical debridement
- nonselective type of debridement that applies physical force to remove necrotic tissue
- necrotic tissue
- avascular debris that can appear as eschar, slough, or biofilm
- negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT)
- therapeutic technique that applies negative pressure to the wound bed to manage exudate and facilitate healing
- Norton Scale
- risk assessment tool with five criteria for determining the risk of skin breakdown
- partial-thickness wound
- superficial injury that involves the epidermis, dermis, or both
- periwound
- skin surrounding a wound
- pressure injury
- localized damage to the skin and underlying soft tissue, typically over a bony prominence or the site upon which a medical device was placed
- primary intention
- healing of a wound with clean, approximated edges
- proliferation
- third phase of wound healing, characterized by epithelialization, angiogenesis, collagen formation, and contraction
- remodeling
- final phase of wound healing, characterized by regrowth and reorganization of collagen
- secondary intention
- healing of a wound from the “bottom up,” due to edges that cannot be approximated
- senescent cell
- nonfunctioning cell that has stopped dividing but has not died
- slough
- fibrinous necrotic tissue located on top of the wound bed; characterized as loose or stringy and yellow or tan
- surgical debridement
- use of a scalpel, forceps, curette, scissors, or other instruments to remove necrotic tissue from the wound base; also known as sharp debridement
- tertiary intention
- plan to delay healing while the wound remains open
- tunneling
- formation of a sinus tract under any part of a wound’s edge
- undermining
- erosion of tissue under the edges of a wound