Advances in wound care management

The last quarter century has seen advances in the way wound care management is carried out, both in terms of diagnosis and treatment. Advances and developments, like the introduction of Negative Pressure Wound Therapy, have brought benefits to patients and wound care practitioners alike and helped deliver better outcomes.  

Despite these improvements, the overall cost to the NHS to treat approximately 3.8m patients with a wound (2017/18 figures) is estimated to be c. £8.3bn, with a 71% increase in the annual prevalence of wounds between 2012/13 and 2017/18.¹ To put this in context, the NHS spent c. £6.1bn on overweight and obesity-related ill-health in 2014/15.² There is significantly less public awareness about wound prevention and treatment but the cost burden is equally as significant, making any improvements in treatment extremely impactful.

This article will focus on two factors that have been significant in advancing wound care management over recent years. Firstly, there is now a better understanding of how to identify and treat wounds, driven by the wider dissemination of new research and best practice, which has helped practitioners improve the way they provide care. Secondly, as understanding and practice has improved, so have the materials and products available to treat wounds. Industry has improved existing materials and developed new innovative dressings designed to improve wound care, particularly for chronic wounds